All for Us
by southernbeauty13
Summary: In a group of assassins the rule is that you are given a name and you shoot. This is the life that Rose Hathaway is in and it has never been difficult until one night she is given an assignment to kill Dimitri Belikov, a recently widowed young father whose wife died in a tragic accident. Love works in mysterious ways but trust is a fragile thing. Is it even worth it in the end?
1. Chapter 1

I lay on the roof of the abandoned building with my best friend, gun in hand. Missoula was pitch black tonight and would easily cover us as we made our escape.

"Shame he's good looking." Lissa said as she stared at my next assignments picture and profile. I paid no attention to her as I continued to stare through the scope of my sniper into the window of his apartment.

"Why does it matter?" I asked moving up a little before looking back through the scope. The old building was abandoned and so broken that I'm surprised it didn't collapse as soon as we stepped foot on the roof. If it could hold until we were done here, we could make it out of here with ease.

She nudged my shoulder and put the profile down between the two of us. "Just look before you shoot. You know, before he's covered in blood and his brains are on the floor."

I gave in and took a glance. Yes, he was a pretty picture. I only spared it a glance before going to the information on him.

**Name: Dimitri Nikhil Belikov  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Brown, shoulder length  
Height: 6'7**

It also mentioned something about a daughter and a dead wife. I looked back down into my scope and saw him. "Liss." I said and eyed him carefully. I felt her move closer and put my finger on the trigger.

He leaned down and grabbed a little girl who looked to be about five years old. He held her to him as if she was the only thing holding him here and she clung to him much the same. His brown eyes were mirrored in hers but strawberry blond hair ran down her back obviously from her mother.

He sat down in the recliner and pulled her to him pulling out a book, a western by the looks of it.

"Well?" Lissa asked and I could hear her approval. I looked back to her and saw her hand on my gun. I turned back to them and I wasn't here anymore.

"_Daddy, what's going on?" I asked as my father pushed me under the bed. I heard glass shattering and heard a door fall, several voices shouting._

"_Just stay quiet, baby. Whatever happens just stay quiet" he handed me his cell phone and hugged me tight. "You know what to do." I could feel the tears threatening to spill but refused to allow them. _

_My father stood strong and proud as three men walked in. Two body guards stood beside Victor, one gain aimed at my father's heart, the other at his head._

"_Victor, to what do I owe this unpleasant arrival?" my father replied crossing his arms over his chest._

"_You don't sound very surprised, Ibrahim." Victor laughed softly and pulled out a gun. "I just thought I'd come and kill you myself, is all. Old rivals shouldn't send others to kill them."_

_I closed my eyes and heard a loud shot and a body hit the floor. When I opened my eyes again, Victor was leaning over my father smiling._

"_You'll have company soon enough." he replied and walked out of the room, his body guards in tow._

_It wasn't long after that when I saw Robert poke his head under the bed. "You're strong. You'll be of great use to me." I crawled out from under the bed and stood beside him. I looked down at my father and kissed his cheek softly before walking out behind Robert, who hadn't so much as slowed his pace._

I made a promise that night that I would be the one to kill Victor and that I'd make him suffer for what he'd done to me and my family. Robert had made me a promise that he'd be my assignment when I was ready.

I looked to the child now and realized that I couldn't pull the trigger. There weren't many men who loved their children and I could see it as he held her that she was his everything. I couldn't take that away from her, not now.

"You know what the consequences are of this choice." Lissa said, pulling my attention to her.

I'd almost forgotten she was there but smiled regardless. I took a deep breath before standing up and pulling my gun with me. "He won't kill me. We both know that. Besides, broken bones are something we should be used to."

She nodded once before grabbing her gun as well and moving to stand beside me. She looked back to him, back to Dimitri and asked "What makes him different?"

I sighed and looked back to them again. She was almost asleep as he continued to read to her, unaware that she wasn't listening or maybe for his own enjoyment.

"Nothing." I said and started making my way down to the ground floor, Lissa in tow.

*****Well that's the first chapter! I have wanted to write another story for a long time now but didn't know how to start it. So R&amp;R and let me know what you all think. Thanks **


	2. Chapter 2

We sat in silence as Lissa continued to clean the blood from my back while I wiped it from my face. Robert hadn't been in a merciful mood this evening but my theory proved right. He wouldn't kill me but his after the third hit to my face with his brass knuckles I'd thought about it. That was why Robert was so good at being an assassin. If his intentions weren't to kill you, you'd wish they were by the end of it.

"What did he say?" Lissa asked, breaking the tense silence in the room. There were people walking the halls of the underground hideout where we all lived but nobody spoke. Not many were like me, in the way that Robert wouldn't kill them. He'd found me of use and admired my rebellious streak when I was younger. After my father's murder, my want to kill Victor had been so strong that I no longer asked questions about the people I was assigned to kill. All that mattered was that one day I'd get the assignment to kill him and to get it I had to get through my other assignments first.

"He asked what made him different." I looked down at my bloodied feet that still had many shards of glass in them from the window Robert had shattered. I'd picked the wrong time to be barefoot.

She stayed quiet for a moment as I pulled my tank top down, wincing as it hit a few of the gashes on my lower back and stomach. I hated cattle prods; their cuts burned for hours and seemed to only get worse. I turned to Lissa and she looked down. "What did you say?"

"Nothing. There is nothing different about him. He's just another person in the way." I was getting more pissed off by the moment. Not with her, but with myself. If I was going to kill Victor then he needed to be taken care of.

She was about to say something when someone walked in. She smiled brightly and got up and walked to them. Her parents wrapped her lovingly in their arms and shot a smile at me. You'd think in a group of assassins we'd be a little less affectionate, but when your life could be cut off in the blink of an eye, you learn to appreciate what you have a little more.

Eric hugged her once more before catching a glimpse of me. "So it is true?" he asked and I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

Rhea looked to him and then back to me. Her jade green eyes widened for a moment before looking to Lissa, inspecting for damage.

I suppose that the two had the gentler parts of our organization. Eric was one of our best trainers and after my father died, trained both me and Lissa, along with several others. Rhea was a locator, which meant she found where the target would be and learned work schedules, dinner plans, etc. Locators' minds often worked faster and though they weren't the most lethal, they had as little problem pulling a trigger as Robert.

I took a deep breath and decided to end her worrying for Lissa. "I didn't pull the trigger." I stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Here, it was normally a death sentence. Weakness wasn't allowed no matter the reason.

Rhea was about to ask a question when Robert came in. "Enough with the chit chat. Back to work. Rose, you are relieved for the night."

I clenched my knuckles but let it go. My body couldn't handle another beating tonight. Lissa turned to me apologetically. Her jade green eyes were filled with sorrow and her blonde hair a mess. That look of innocence was what had made her so deceptive. You'd never think murderer but that was what we were.

"Do I have permission to leave the grounds?" I asked, turning my attention back to Robert. He reached into his jacket pocket and threw something to me. I caught it with ease and realized it was my gun.

I nodded once and walked off, not saying a word to anyone. I walked down the halls, still angry and still confused.

Why had I let this one go? _He's no different. If anything he could be more of a threat._ Children had never been a weakness, so that was out of the question. So, what was it?

"Hathaway!" I hear someone call and looked up to see Mason running down the hallway, catching a few weird looks from Aaron and Mia, who were on their way to the shower by the looks of blood and dirt on their clothes. They were a good mix. Mia was a locator and Aaron delivered the targets names along with their family and friends.

We never were told why they were targeted or why they needed to be killed. That wasn't necessary information, we were told to kill and we carried out orders. If they could possibly be a threat to our organization, they were taken care of.

Mia and I locked eyes for a moment before she looked to Mason. She simply smiled and rolled her eyes. I'd been one of her first friends when she came to the organization after her family was murdered and even with our different standings, that friendship hadn't changed much over the past few years. I nodded back to her before turning my attention back to a grinning Mason.

"What is it, Ashford?" I asked and continued walking, Mason in tow.

He looped an arm through mine, his eyes light with amusement. "Where are we going? Weapons or maps?"

I ignored the pain in my rips from his arm as I replied "Neither. I've been relieved for the night."

He stopped in his tracks and turned to me. "What?" he asked and I pulled my arm from his.

We'd reached the edge of the hall and I grabbed the keys to my bike before opening the door that lead to one of the many escape routes here. There were many tunnels and ladders, but if you knew where you were going there were certain walls that offered a sense of security and offered an emergency escape.

"Don't worry; you'll get the story later. News travels faster here than in a high school." I said and walked into the elevator, seeing that the shock on his face, as always, was very visible.

It was pitch black as I pushed up on the door that was disguised as another piece of the hard tile floor of our hideout. Some would say it was a prison and at a time it was.

The ten feet high concrete walls outside that had electric barbwire crawling the walls, along with the large gate that had to be opened from the inside, which was always watched by three of our top shooters, along with the many security cameras that were replaced constantly. No one knew what went on inside unless they were there and no one left this organization to tell.

This old prison had been shut down after more murders were being committed than prevented and, for once, these murders weren't linked with any of us. The building itself was abandoned and breaking down but nothing on the outside was used except for security and that wasn't seen unless meant to be seen. I walked to the cell that held my black Harley and jumped on, pulling my helmet over my head and revved the engine once before racing to the gates that immediately opened.

About 10 miles out I was in the busy city of Missoula, not caring where I was going. The feeling of the wind in my face had helped me calm down a little. The unanswered questions still burned in the back of my mind, louder than the noises of the city, impossible to drown out.

I stopped outside of the library, parking my bike in an old alley that no one ever came into. Places like this were the perfect murder area but considering the murderers were of my organization, I wasn't concerned. If anything I felt more relieved, knowing that if someone stole my bike, I at least wouldn't have to walk.

I walked into the room and sat down at one of the tables before laying my head back against the booth. Soft murmurs and the sound of books being moved was all that could be heard in this place. It was a relief from the sound of guns, knives, and blows landing that I'd just endured for the past two hours.

My body still felt as if it were on fire but the pain started leaving as I felt myself relax a little. I'm not sure how long I stayed there, almost asleep in that booth but I was fully alert as someone touched my arm. My eyes shot open and my fingers reflexively wrapped around my gun that was hidden in my jacket.

"Excuse me, is it ok if I sit next to you while I read?" I looked down and saw a little girl standing in front of me, her brown eyes shining and her strawberry blond hair in a bun, a sweet smile on her face. My heart raced as I stared at her and I hated myself more now than I had a few hours ago.

My assignment's daughter was looking up at me.

*****Well that's chapter two. Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter and I hope you like the story so far. R&amp;R and thank you for reading **


	3. Chapter 3

I stared at the girl for a moment before realizing that I was supposed to answer her. I shrugged and looked to the seat next to me. She jumped up there next to me and put her book on the table. It was a western, I realized and smiled. I lay back on the booth and closed my eyes again.

"So what's your name?" she asked and I opened my eyes and looked down at her. She wore a bright smile and I just stared at her for a moment.

This was definitely not my usual way of handling things. I should get up and walk off but I found myself unable to move as her big brown eyes stared up into my own light brown ones.

"Rose." I finally replied, my voice sounded nervous, at least to me. She however didn't seem to notice.

"I'm Vivienne Belikova." She replied and extended her hand to me. I stared at it for a moment before shaking it.

"Nice to meet you." _Officially_. Seeing your assignment was one thing. Meeting them caused difficulty and getting to know them was out of the question. _So why am I still sitting here?_ I thought, annoyed at my own stupid decisions.

"It's nice to meet you too." She smiled and let go of my hand. My phone buzzed lightly in my pocket but I chose to ignore. A text could be ignored, a phone call couldn't. Lissa was the only one who usually texted me and usually it was an update.

I sat there in silence with her as she read her book. I pulled my phone out and looked at the text from Lissa.

**Everything ok? **I rolled my eyes at the question. I honestly didn't know.

I put my phone back in my pocket and rested my head in my hands and rubbed my temples. This day had wound up causing one hell of a headache.

"Ready to go?" I heard a voice say that was pretty decently close to me. I looked up to see a woman with long black hair and blue eyes, a scar lingered on her cheek.

"Where's daddy?" Vivienne asked, disappointment thick in her voice. I hadn't forgotten she was there but she hadn't spoken in a while.

"He has to work tonight. So it's just you and me tonight. How's a movie sound?" she asked, a smile on her face.

_Bitch._ I thought and I don't think Vivienne's thoughts were that much different from my own at the moment. Something about this woman wasn't right; then again maybe it was my dislike for people.

"But he promised." Vivienne replied softly, bringing my attention back to her. I felt a little sorry for her but this wasn't my call. I was an assassin, not a therapist.

Vivienne sighed before grabbing her book and sliding out of the booth. The woman grabbed her hand and led her out of the library.

I grabbed my bike helmet and followed shortly after them. I pulled my phone out once I got my bike and texted Lissa, letting her know I was on my way back to the prison.

I started the bike and was about to put my helmet on when I felt someone tap me on my shoulder. My hand flexed for my gun but I resisted this time. I looked down to see Vivienne looking up at me.

"Will you be here for a while?" she asked and I stared at her for a moment.

"We'll see, kid." I replied and she smiled at me before backing away and walking back to the woman standing near an old truck.

I took off without hesitation. This night had been too weird and I wanted to get back to where things were normal. At least normal enough.

The drive back passed quicker than I would have liked, but soon the gates were wide open and I was back in the prison. I pulled into the cell where I kept my bike and pulled my helmet off and left it in the seat before walking out and locking the cell.

"Are you ok?" I heard a voice asked, one I immediately recognized as Lissa's. I looked to see her smiling at me but she couldn't hide the concern in her eyes.

"I'm here." I told her and walked with her to the hatch that lead to our underground hideout.

Neither of us said anything as we climbed down the ladder and we didn't say anything as we made it to the training room. I slipped on the fingerless gloves that I'd gotten when my father was preparing me for training. We'd gone over the sneaking around, the guns, and were starting on hand to hand when he was murdered.

I hit the punching bag once and then just like that all of my irritation rose to the surface. I let my assignment go and that put me one step behind killing Victor. My father had never hesitated to pull the trigger and had definitely never spent time with their family.

I stopped hitting the punch bag and walked over and grabbed my jacket. I didn't say anything as I passed Lissa. I didn't stop or even glance at Mason in the hall. I walked into my room and slammed the door before throwing myself on the bed and the jacket on the floor.

I laid there with my face in my pillow, my mind racing as millions of questions ran through my head and not the first answer. I didn't even know how to find the answer. I had been taught to pull the trigger and not care. Show no remorse and to know that it was the best for the organization. I've been taught that this one mistake could put all the lives of the people I thought was important to me in danger and even if they escaped, our numbers would be few and they'd have lost the people that matter to them.

Then Vivienne came to my mind. She'd just lost her mother and her father was the last thing in her life that seemed to matter to her. She'd be an orphan and would carry her father's murder with her for the rest of her life, just as I had. I'd been eight when he was killed and twelve years later, the pain was still fresh.

I'd killed family members, lovers, and close friends and it had never phased me. I'd never felt guilty for pulling the trigger and I'd never had to worry about what would be the consequences to this organization for not pulling the trigger.

I saw the man holding Vivienne and looking at her like she was the only thing in this world that mattered to him and wondered what and why he would ever hurt someone with the fear of losing her? Why would he go after a group of assassins and risk his life and his daughters for something he didn't even know about?

I'd been in this organization all my life and for the first time in twenty years I found myself doubting the rules I'd lived by for so long. People were capable of cruel things and I'd seen this hundreds of times but it wasn't civilians who killed my father. It was Victor. An assassin whose brother I lived under and who'd once been a part of this organization before he'd decided he wanted his own.

I laid my head on my pillow and closed my eyes, ready for a deserved rest. I didn't know if Dimitri Belikov was dangerous or not but I intended to find out. Soon.

*****Well that's chapter three. Thank you for the great reviews and I hope you are all still enjoying the story. R&amp;R and I'll update as soon as possible. Thanks again **


	4. Chapter 4

I was flung from my bed the next morning and as I struggled to get to my feet, I grabbed the gun from the top of the small table and aimed it at whoever decided that it was a good idea to disturb me this early in the morning.

"What the fuck, Mason?" I asked and put the gun gently back on the bed. Although, he might learn something if I shot _at _him.

He sat on my bed and then crawled into some weird position that you often see male models in. He tossed his hair to one side of his face and smiled at me before saying "I'm here for my make out session."

I stared at him for a moment and tried to not show the smile that I could feel pulling on my lips. I crossed my arms over my chest in a "get serious" kind of way. In that moment all the humor fled from his features and I felt the muscles in my stomach tighten.

"Robert wants to see you." He said it so softly, that if it wasn't for my expert hearing and senses that had been heightened over the years, and I would've thought he'd said something different. In that moment, I wished I'd had.

I felt my hands start to shake but I stuffed them in my pockets. I was an assassin and our weaknesses were not to be shown.

Mason got up from the bed and handed me the key that Robert had given him to my room. I took it and that was Mason's way of saying that I had to go on my own. I nodded before walking out of my room, leaving Mason still standing there.

I walked down the hallway and I noticed it was quiet, not even the sound of gunshots or blows landing on a punching bag. Not a good sign.

I walked in to see Robert standing next to his desk, his hand on a file. I kept my brown eyes on his green ones and I couldn't help but see a small bit of Victor in them.

"Rosemarie." He greeted me and I nodded, keeping my eyes on his. He surprised me with a smile. I felt my heart race but didn't react. His smiles had many meanings, but all looked the same.

"Sir." I replied and he took a step forward, grabbing the file as he walked to where I was just a few feet from him.

He laughed suddenly and I felt more irritated at this. He may not be able to sense my fear, but I couldn't shake the feeling that he was laughing at it. "You're so much like your father. Showing respect to your leader, but not stupid enough to remove your eyes. You've made a fine assassin." I smiled at the sound of respect he had when he mentioned my father. He may be gone but he was still respected and I was glad. "Which is why I'm confused as to why you couldn't pull the trigger."

There went my smile. I looked down and took a deep breath. I opened my mouth to say something, anything really, but no sound came out. _Fuck!_

"Rosemarie, I have but one question. Do you want to kill Victor? This assignment was promised to you many years ago and I intend to keep it… if it is what you still want." He asked and I could see in his eyes the worry. An assassin that chose to leave was able to do so but not alive. Our secrets were too valuable to be risked and I knew this.

I looked at Robert with what I hoped was all seriousness and I knew it sounded like I meant it. My anger surfaced at my own weakness and after fifteen years of waiting to kill Victor, one man or child was not enough to give that up.

"No problem. I just have a request." I said and I knew I was risking a lot asking for this but I had to do this. For Vivienne. "The girl. I want to make sure that she goes somewhere safe after he's gone. As soon as I have this information, you can hand me my next assignment."

Robert looked at me for a moment before and I saw something in his eyes but it was gone before I could place it. He took the radio from his pocket and spoke into it. "Send your daughter in."

I heard Eric Dragomir reply in a stern voice "She's on her way." I could hear the smallest hint of worry in his voice and I was thankful that Robert couldn't hear it. Lissa walked in moments later and I looked to her and could tell she'd just come from the training area. She had a bandage around her arm covering and injury that had most likely been from a knife.

She walked in and looked at the floor as a sign of respect to Robert. Robert was a leader and the only person brave enough to keep their eyes on him was me. I remembered his praise for my father earlier about him never looking away from Robert and was glad that I'd had the same courage as him.

"Vasilisa will go with you. Return when the job is done and I'll give you the assignment you've waited for fifteen years to receive."

I looked up at Robert and saw the most serious look in his eyes. I nodded and walked out, Lissa behind me, and headed to my room.

I opened my door and grabbed a suitcase that held some of my guns and a bag for my clothes. As an assassin, money was never a worry. Our private accounts that were guarded by the most trust worthy people in the organization were untraceable. My account however was always with me, in a chest in my room. I pulled the key from around my neck and unlocked the chest that held several bills in it. All in all it came to half a million dollars and more came in with every assignment.

I turned to see Lissa staring down at me from my spot on the floor as I closed and locked the chest. "Are you ok?" she asked as I stood up.

"Liss, the only thing that stands between me and the bastard that murdered my father is this assignment. He's not a bad person and I can't see how he could be unless provoked. I'm going to make sure his daughter is put in good hands before I take him from her. That was mine and Robert's agreement." I felt a heavy weight in my heart as I talked about little Vivienne.

I knew the pain she was going to go through and how many questions she was going to have. Pain that I'd felt. Questions that I'd asked. Her questions would be one's I could answer but I wouldn't be around to do so. Vivienne would be changed forever and she'd be on her own with this pain, but I would make sure she went to someone who would stand by her as she tried to make sense of the life that she would living with both her mother and father gone.

Lissa didn't say anything as we made our way out of the underground civilization or as we drove in her car into the city of Missoula to find a new temporary residence. I would be seeing Vivienne again soon. I needed to earn her father's trust and his daughter meant everything to him. I'd see Vivienne tomorrow and I'd be meeting my assignment face to face for the first time.

Great.

*****So Dimitri and Rose are going to be meeting soon. This should be interesting. Sorry about the long wait, school has been hectic. Anyway R&amp;R and hope you guys are still enjoying the story **


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon the next morning. I buried my face in the pillow of the uncomfortable bed in mine and Lissa's new apartment. It was completely ordinary and with all the screaming from the couple next door it was obvious that people around here kept to themselves and law enforcement wasn't called very often nor was the manager.

I heard the door to my room creek open and lifted my face from the pillow to be met with Lissa's smiling face and a plate of eggs, bacon, and buttered toast. I sat up and ran my hands through my hair before grabbing the plate from her hands.

"Thank you." I told her before picking up a piece of toast.

She sat down on the bed next to me and smiled. "No problem. I'm guessing you got no sleep either." she gently placed her pale fingers on the dark circles under her eyes.

As assassins we never got enough sleep but at least we got enough to function. I needed to be fully alert today when I met to go meet little Vivienne and Dimitri, especially for the how I planned to meet them. James, a friend at the organization, was supposed to help out my meeting and make Dimitri's trust easier to gain. Heroic actions always do.

I pushed the plate away after finishing my breakfast and Lissa walked out the door to take a phone call. I took the time to slip on my jeans and black tank top before pulling the gun out of the little night stand beside my bed and putting it in one of the pockets in my leather jacket.

"You ready?" Lissa asked as she came in and I looked to her. She gave me a kind sisterly smile and I gave her a nod. I hadn't smiled in years. Not since my father died. I didn't have any light in my life anymore. Just names and addresses.

"What's our story again?" I asked as I pulled on my boots.

Lissa leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms. I looked up into her green eyes and saw her raise an eyebrow at me. This was one of our few playful moments. I'd never gotten how to arch my eyebrow and her, her family, and Mason loved to tease me about it by doing it effortlessly.

I gave her a half smile before going back to the laces on my boots. She sighed before reciting the story she'd told me four times since we left the organization. Momentarily.

"We are best friends who are living in this city in a small downtown apartment. We needed a vacation from the online college courses and a break from our families so we came here for some fresh air. We carry guns because the city is a dangerous place and we're slightly paranoid." she paused for a minute and I looked up at her.

"What?" I asked and she just shook her head.

"Nothing." She replied and walked back into the little living room.

It was dark now and that meant it was time to head out to the library. I grabbed my phone and sent a text to one of the agents. The reply came shortly after and I walked out the door, leaving Lissa to continue watching one of her romance movies. She still had high hopes of love but I didn't really see why. It was dangerous to love in the agency and most of us came to accept the fact that we'd be alone. My own father had fallen in love but had given it up to keep not only her safe but me as well.

When he'd died I'd had the choice of leaving the agency and going to live with my mother but without a second thought I'd agreed to stay if I could kill Victor. I'd never regretted my decision and I wasn't about to start now.

I walked a little faster to the library. I had to get there at the perfect time. The agent they'd sent wasn't known for his patience and was known for pulling the trigger. He made the perfect agent but this wasn't his kill. It was mine.

I leaned against the wall of the library and caught sight of a large man wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket. He nodded to me but his facial expression was still fierce. This was the agent Robert had sent. He turned down the alley way that Vivienne and Dimitri would be coming down any minute.

The night I'd met Vivienne I found out that they lived on the other side of this alley way and they cut through here all the time to make the walk shorter. I don't think that would be happening after tonight.

I heard the sound of Vivienne laughing and talk to someone with a deep voice. Obviously, a male and I was assuming it was her father.

I heard the other agent's footsteps and due to the loud noises of the city and the fact that people here stuck to their own business, I knew no one else heard or if they did they didn't take a second look or even slow their pace.

"Give me all everything you got or I'll slit your throat and leave you in the alley for the dogs." I heard the agent's terrifying voice and I knife being pulled.

"Get behind me." I heard the other male voice say and I was pretty sure he'd already pulled Vivienne behind him without a second thought.

"The money and anything else valuable. Now!" the agent growled and I decided then was the perfect time to make me entrance.

I walked down the alleyway and sure enough saw Dimitri Belikov between the agent and his daughter while his daughter was between him and the wall.

His wallet and watch were on the ground between the two men and the agent still had the knife pointed to them. I could see the real intent to kill in his eyes and knew that if I didn't do something soon, he was going to act on it. I walked down the alley way and stepped on a can that I hadn't seen it. All three pairs of eyes were on me and Vivienne smiled.

"Rose!" she called and the agent looked to me and I saw a smile on his face. Dimitri however looked both confused and twice as worried.

"Get out of here, lady. Unless you have something you'd like to give to help their cause." He walked another step toward Dimitri and Vivienne.

I looked to Dimitri and saw that his overprotective father side was about to come out and I saw his fist clench, ready for a fight. I knew if he acted this wouldn't end well because this agent acted on instinct alone and I had to wonder why the hell Robert had sent him.

"I'll tell you once to get lost and we can all forget about this whole thing." I did my best to make my voice sound worried and from their looks I knew it worked. "No one has to get hurt."

The agent laughed and kept the knife pointed to them but turned to smile at me. "See, I can't let that happen. It's not in my nature." He took another step forward to his two victims and Dimitri raised a fist and drew my gun.

"Well it's not in my nature to let bastards like you get away. Seeing as how I'm the one with the gun, I think we'll be playing this my way tonight." I replied calmly and put my finger near the trigger but not fully.

He winked at me before running off, dropping the knife as he went. I turned to Vivienne and Dimitri, who still looked shaken, and put my gun away. Vivienne ran to me before her father even noticed and hugged me.

"You saved us." I put an arm around and ignored the twinge of guilt I felt. I looked from Vivienne's brown eyes to Dimitri's and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Thank you." He said and pulled Vivienne close to him. "I'm grateful don't get me wrong but do you mind if I ask why you were carrying a gun in the first place."

I let go of Vivienne and looked up into his dark brown eyes. Dark circles loomed under them where he hadn't had a good night of sleep in months.

"My best friend and I just moved here a few days ago. The area we live in is isn't exactly a safe neighborhood. I'm starting to think nowhere is though. So I've been taking extra precautions." I crossed my arms and looked to a smiling Vivienne. "That and I couldn't really just walk by two people being held up by a man with a knife. Not when I could do something, at least."

Dimitri smiled and looked to Vivienne, who was looking at me. She smiled, deviously this time. "Daddy, this is the pretty lady I met at the library the other day."

He laughed and replied "Well, I'm glad you're making friends."

She smiled then at me. "Maybe we can show around some time. Since, you're new here."

Dimitri's eyes widened for only a moment but went back to normal as he replied softly "Viv, don't you think we need to let her get settled in first?"

I decided to act on instinct. "I'm settled in as good as I'm going to get. Whenever is good for you is good for me."

Vivienne smiled widely and held out her hand. "Can I see your phone?" I handed it to her without a second thought and her fingers went all over the screen.

Dimitri smiled at me lightly and I simply shrugged. He held out a hand to me. "I'm Dimitri Belikov by the way."

I took his hand in mine and felt the strength he had just in our brief handshake and made a mental note to definitely use a gun when I decided it was time. "Rose Hathaway." My father had given me my mother's name so I wouldn't be as easily traced back to him.

Vivienne handed my phone back to me and smiled at her daddy. He smiled back at her before looking back to me. "I guess we'll be in touch."

"It's a date then." Vivienne said happily and grabbed her daddy's hand. "Bye, Ms. Rose."

With that she led her father away and I walked back to my apartment. I passed the agent that had staged the attack and nodded my thanks to him.

I was back at the apartment before I knew it and put the key in the door. Lissa was sitting on the couch in her pajamas asleep. I gently closed and locked the door before walking back to my room. I slipped off my jeans and crawled underneath the covers, laying my head on the pillow. I was asleep in moments.

*****Well there is chapter 5. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story and I hope to be updating more often now that school is almost out. R&amp;R and thank you for reading. **


	6. Chapter 6

I got up the next morning early and was in the kitchen cooking when Lissa woke up. She walked in and smiled when she saw me at the stove. She'd been working on teaching me how to cook at the organization and I had decided this morning to give it a shot on my own. So far, it was going good but grilled cheese was nowhere near a five star meal.

"It smells good. I'm glad you listened to me at least a little." She smiled again and grabbed two glasses and quickly filled them with orange juice. I put a sandwich on a plate and handed it to her.

She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and looked for a channel. The news channel was on something about a missing person on the outskirts of Montana. No leads, no fingerprints, no blood, no weapons, and no sign of a struggle.

"Damn, sounds like one of ours." I stated and sat down on the couch beside her.

She took a sip of orange juice then turned to me with a smile. "Mia had an assignment down there. You know how she is. More organized the necessary."

I snorted and looked down at my plate. Some of our agents could have been a little more careful in some of our cases. Robert was always good at covering our tracks but if an agent got out of line, then they were on their own.

"So how did it go last night?" Lissa asked after turning off the TV. I sighed and looked down at my half eaten sandwich. I'd kept the m off of my mind until that moment. Lissa always had a habit of bringing something to the front of your mind once you'd dismissed the thought.

I looked up into her jade green eyes and saw that she was there for me. She was the only one who'd ever actually cared enough about me to stick around and the only one I'd ever cared enough about to keep.

"I have his phone number. He and Viv offered to give me a tour of the city, so he said to call and he'd drop his plans. They are really nice." I tried to act nonchalant about it but the thought of seeing them again made my heart skip a beat.

"Viv." Was all she said and I realized that I used her nickname. Nicknames were a sign that you were close. That wasn't allowed here and it made the assignment harder.

I rested my elbows on my knees and put my head in my hands. "I know. I guess it's just that she's so young and it just brings back a lot of memories and pain. I think of him every day, Liss. You'd think it got easier but I just miss him more."

She put an arm around my shoulders and didn't say anything. That was one reason I liked her so much. She didn't ask questions and she didn't judge. She was just a good person and easy to talk to.

Lissa's phone buzzed a moment later. "It's mom. She said they need me back for a little while. Are you going to be ok?" she asked and I lifted my head from my hands to glare at her.

She laughed and went to her room to get dressed. I leaned back and pulled my own phone from my pocket. I swiped the screen and scrolled down until I found Dimitri's name. I pressed the message button and pressed the button to start typing.

Lissa came out of her room moments later and I realized that I wasn't typing. I heard the door shut behind her as she left and I looked down at my screen again. I needed to see him again. I'd made a promise to myself that she would have a good place to go after he was gone but why should that even matter to me.

"Fuck!" I screamed and threw my phone on the wooden table. I got up and left my phone on the wooden table as I went to my room to grab a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. Running had always cleared my mind and now was a good time for one.

I pulled the door shut as I walked out into the city. It was a cooler day so it was perfect weather for a run and I needed something to clear my head. A distraction as it would be. Something we weren't supposed to have as a part of the organization.

I walked down the stairs of our apartment building and as soon as my foot touched the asphalt, I took off. The feeling of the wind in my face made me feel alive again. It wasn't very often that I got to run for recreation. If this was a normal day, I would be running from a shooter, a dog, or in some cases cops.

Today, I was free. It was a feeling I wanted to never end. For once there was nothing on my mind but how far I could run until I had to stop. I sometimes wondered if I could run from my own life. I would think if I just kept running, I'd run into somewhere new. Somewhere no one knew me and somewhere my past didn't haunt me with every step I took, but I knew better.

"Hey, Rose!" I heard a voice call and I immediately came to a stop. I scanned my surroundings and found Vivienne waving with one hand and with the other dragging Dimitri over to me. So much for that distraction.

I walked over to them and pulled my hair back into a pony tail. "Hi. What's up?" I asked and Vivienne wrapped her arms around me in a hug. It took me a moment to respond but I put an arm around her.

"We're doing great. Shopping. What are you doing?" She asked and I looked to Dimitri, who looked more exhausted than normal.

I shrugged after dropping my arms down by my side again and looked back down to her. "Just out for a run. I didn't really get to do that a lot because of where I used to live." Not unless it was necessary anyway.

Vivienne smiled and turned back to Dimitri. She grabbed his hand and his eyes opened a little more alert but just barely. I knew the feeling all too well of loss of sleep, especially due to the loss of a loved one. I'd gone days with only two hours of sleep, because when I slept I had unwanted memories come to my mind that I couldn't get away from, even after I woke up.

Dimitri smiled to Vivienne and gently tugged her towards him. "Viv, we need to get home. I've got to get ready for work."

Vivienne smiled and looked up to him. "Is Christian watching me tonight?" Her smile fell slightly as she added "Or Tasha?"

"Christian's helping out tonight at the shop, but he'll be over this weekend." He was a full time teacher but a friend of his owned a shop which Dimitri and Christian worked part time at. Dimitri would take part time nearly anywhere he could if he began to worry about their financial issues a little more than usual. His days with his daughter couldn't be interrupted for anything. Those days were reserved for the two of them specifically. Today wasn't one of those days.

Her smile fell completely then. How could he not notice? He leaned down and kissed her cheek and she smiled again.

"I'll see you guys later." I said and quickly took off. I didn't want to hear the reply but I couldn't stand around and see them anymore today. Not knowing what I had to do and knowing the pain that Vivienne was going to go through.

Less than a year. She had less than a year with him and she didn't even know it. _Victor. _I reminded myself. _Victor took him away and this is what's standing in the way of your revenge. Let him go and you let Victor go. _I ran faster now and kept that thought in my head until I was back at the apartment.

I unlocked the door and slammed it behind me. I wanted Victor dead more now than ever but I couldn't until Dimitri was gone. After he was gone, Victor was mine. So why the hell had I made a promise to get Vivienne a good home? She meant nothing to me and I didn't even know her. Her life was not mean to keep track of and it wasn't like I could be sure she was going to the right place anyway.

I sat on the couch and picked up my phone, looking to see if I'd had any messages. None. Good. I heard Lissa sigh as she walked out of our small bathroom. She looked tired but clean. She'd been called away for an assignment and had obviously just cleaned up.

"Robert told me to ask how it was coming along?" she asked and sat on the couch next time. Her long blonde hair fell around her face and was beginning to curl since she hadn't brushed it yet. I felt a sudden bolt of anger go through me but took a breath before answering her.

"I'm working on it. I will get it done when I decide it's time and not a moment sooner." my voice came out harsher than I intended and Lissa's face fell. It wasn't her fault, I reminded myself. Robert Duro wasn't a patient man and Lissa was only the messenger.

I sighed and nudged her shoulder with mine and said "C'mon let's order some pizza."

She smiled again and sweetly asked "Can we watch Titanic?"

I groaned and she took that as the cue to go get the movie. I considered shooting the TV just to get out of it but I was certain a gun shot would attract some attention, even in this neighborhood. Titanic was her favorite movie and she loved making me watch as a way of making me suffer after I hurt her feelings. She may be an assassin but she was very soft hearted, but I couldn't help but wonder if she faked her hurt feelings to watch the fucking movie.

About an hour later after we'd finished off our pizza and got halfway done with the movie Lissa yawned and stretched her arms. "I think I'm going to head to bed. I've got an early assignment." She groaned and I rolled my eyes. Morning assignments were both the best and worst in the way that you could never depend on the people waking up on time but there were hardly any witnesses around either.

"Ok." I said and she went to off to her room. I quickly turned off the movie and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I walked into my room about ten minutes later and after pulling on one of the large t-shirt that I used to sleep in, I pulled out a book that my father had given many years ago. _The Count of Monte Cristo_ had always been his favorite book and I think I'd read it at least twenty times in the last twelve years. I lay back in the bed and closed my eyes, needing an escape, at least for a moment.

*****Sounds like Viv is getting under Rose's skin and Robert is getting impatient. This can't be good. Thank you so much for the amazing reviews on the last chapter! I had a horrible week and the reviews made me smile. R&amp;R and thank you for reading! **


	7. Chapter 7

My phone ringing woke me up the next day. I rolled over and grabbed it off the night stand next to my bed and saw that it was Lissa… and that it was 5:30 in the afternoon. I guess my lack of sleep caught up with me last night.

"Hey." My voice definitely sounded like I'd just woken up. I heard Lissa laugh lightly and I knew that she could tell I'd just woken up.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. I just called to let you know that I'll be at the organization all day today. I'm behind on training." I rolled my eyes and stood up to walk to my closet. I pulled a pair of jeans and a black tank top off the rack and threw it on my bed along with my boots and jacket on the floor.

"I guess I'll do some studying of my own today." I told her and after saying our goodbyes I hung up the phone.

I got dressed quickly and called the number that Vivienne had put in my phone. It rang three times before someone picked up.

"Hello?" it was a woman's voice and I fought the urge to groan.

"Hi, my name is Rose. May I speak with Vivienne?" I asked as politely as I could and I heard Vivienne asking for the phone. If I had to guess, I'd guess that this was Tasha, the babysitter she didn't like.

"Hey, Ms. Rose." Her voice sounded almost relieved. Strange, but I wasn't going to ask questions.

"Do you and your father have any plans today?" I asked and then remembered the time. "What's left of it?"

I heard her laugh softly and heard a door open and close. "He's home now. Did you want that tour tonight?" She asked and I sat on the couch.

"No, I was actually hoping to do that tomorrow if he was off." I put my phone between my shoulder and my ear and started looking through one of the books Lissa left on the table. _Combat and Strategies _was the name of it and I rolled my eyes. She was definitely a book worm in her spare time.

"That'd be great. Do you want to talk to him?" she asked and I stayed quiet.

I thought about it for a moment and finally made a decision. "No, I have to go. I'll call in the morning ok?"

"Ok. Bye!" she said and before she hung up I could hear her giggle as well as Dimitri's laugh.

I sat down my phone and wondered how she was so calm and happy. Her mother had died only months ago and her father was a disaster. I knew she missed her and that she probably thought about her often. From what I'd read Noleen, her mother, had been an amazing woman. I pulled out Dimitri's profile from under the table and opened it up.

There were pictures of all of them and there were pictures of them separately. Noleen had strawberry blond hair like Vivienne's and gray eyes. She was beautiful and in every picture you could tell that love just surrounded them. The looks between her and Dimitri showed that even after 6 years of marriage they still looked like it was their wedding day.

It was plain to see and I knew that they'd have been happy for a long time, but life had different plans. Vivienne was to grow up without a mother and one way or another wouldn't have a father. If I didn't get rid of him, someone else would.

I closed the files on the family and walked out the door. I needed to stop thinking about them and I wasn't going to do that with the file and my phone right next to me. I made my way out of the apartment area and began walking down the street.

The city was bright with the street lights and not a lot of people were out. I thought of the night before last of my father's life and how we'd walked these streets together. His laughter echoed in my ears as well as his words of how I'd have a life to live of my own. He'd never wanted the organization for me but had trained me the basics of how to defend myself. He'd hoped that I'd grow up to be married and go to college. Have a life, even if he wouldn't be in it.

You didn't have a life in the organization. You were loyal to Robert or you were a risk. You were told what to do and what to say or you were killed. Once you made the choice to enter the organization, you could only leave one way.

You would do what Robert said and you would die if you weren't careful or when he decided you were no longer useful. There was no bargaining and there was no changing his mind. I had more mercy than most because my father had been loyal to Robert for so many years and had died at the mercy of his brother, but that didn't mean he wouldn't kill me if he felt threatened. Robert had never had any issues killing people, even family.

I turned down the alley that Vivienne and Dimitri had taken the night that he met me and stood in the shadows for a moment. I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath trying to calm my thoughts as unwanted memories invaded my mind. There was no changing what had to be done and there was no reason I should care about Vivienne, but being alone in the world changed you.

I couldn't imagine seeing Vivienne cold and uncaring, vengeful even, but after this I knew she'd never be that sweet girl again. No one ever was.

I heard the sound of a can being kicked close by and looked in the direction of the noise. A man not much taller than me stood in the shadows of the alley, his gun the only thing visible in the darkness.

I put my hand in my jacket and felt my heart rate pick up when I realized it was empty. I scanned my surroundings quickly, trying to find anything to hide behind or use for protection but coming up with nothing.

"What do you want?" I asked and took a step forward keeping my eyes on the man's hidden face.

A familiar laugh echoed down the alley and I narrowed my eyes. I knew this person, that much I was sure of. I took another step forward, slower this time, and tried to see any details on the man's face.

He stepped forward into the light and I saw blue eyes looking over my body, lingering on certain parts. I didn't cover up where his eyes roamed, it did no good and I was not going to play the helpless victim. I hadn't gone through twelve years of training to beg for my life, especially from him.

"What the fuck do you want, Jesse?" I growled and he smiled stepping out of the shadows fully and walking towards me.

I didn't move from where I stood and when he was no more than a breath away he leaned looked down into my brown eyes and I could see the hate in my eyes mirrored in his amused ones.

"Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" he asked and leaned in closer.

I pushed him back and growled "You're a liar, betrayed the organization, and in case you've forgotten, I've never liked you. The only difference now is that I can kill you."

Jesse had left the organization to become one of Victor's faithful dogs and in situations like this, we were trained to kill as soon as witnesses weren't visible. He was one of the reasons the organization didn't give out secrets and a reason why you couldn't leave freely.

He laughed loudly this time, put an arm around my waist, and pressed the cold metal of the gun against my spine. "In case you've forgotten, I'm the one with the gun. I'd be dead by now if you had yours, now wouldn't I?"

I shoved against his chest and stepped on his foot in a failed attempt to get away from him. He groaned in pain and, without losing his grip, removed the hand with the gun from my spine and I felt the handle of the gun connect with my cheek bone.

I reached up and dug my nails into his neck as deep as I could and raked them down to his shoulder, blood covering my hand and his shoulder. He screamed in pain and using both of his hands shoved me into the wall, my head hitting the hard brick causing me to fall to the ground and my vision to blur.

_Don't fall asleep, Rose. _A voice in my head called. I looked up, the world spinning and Jesse had his gun pointed at me. I was about to die and I could feel it. I closed my eyes and thought of my father, wanting him to be my last thought before I died instead of fear.

I heard the gun shot but I didn't feel anything. It was faint but I knew without question what it was and I opened my eyes. Jesse was lying on the hard gravel in front of me, his eyes open and blood poured out of the whole in his head.

I looked up to see Lissa covered in blood but couldn't see any visible damage on her. She tore her shirt and put it to my head and I realized the blood on her was my own. Darkness grew as I stared at her and she pulled out her cell phone and I could tell she was speaking fast but couldn't hear what she was saying.

"Lissa." Was the only thing I was able to say as the darkness took over.

*****Well that's chapter 7. Now that summer has started I hope to be updating more often now that summer has started and school is out. R&amp;R and thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. **


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up with the worst headache I could have imagined. I groaned as I leaned up and put my hand on my head. I opened my eyes to see that I was in my room and saw a glass of water on my bedside table. I grabbed the water and slowly drank the water while I kept the other hand on my head. The pain was agonizing but not as bad as it could have been. That bastard Jesse wasn't strong but the brick wall that he'd slammed me into had definitely not been injured in the process.

I got up and walked into the living room and went straight for our medicine cabinet. I grabbed the medicine that we had for headaches and chased it down with what little water I had in my glass.

"Rosemarie." I heard. He didn't sound pleased but he never did.

I closed the cabinet and turned around to see Robert sitting quietly on my couch and Lissa standing beside him. I took a deep breath and after giving a nod in greeting to Robert I turned to her. "Thank you."

She understood and hesitantly walked out the door. I gave her what I hoped was a look along the lines of I'd be ok but from her face I could tell she didn't believe. Even if I truly did believe it, I knew she wouldn't.

I met Robert's eyes finally and was met with nothing but cold anger. "You are my best assassin. So good, that I promised you the assignment of killing Victor even before your father's murder. Then after he was murdered I wanted you to be the one to take him out that much more so that you could have the revenge you craved and that he would pay for your father's murder. Now you have but one meaningless life between you and fifteen years of waiting of work but you not only refuse to pull the trigger until yet another meaningless life is put into someone else's hands but also allowed one of the weakest members of his group to almost take you down!" he'd begun yelling at this point and I felt each word like a knife on my skin.

I kept every emotion that ran through me in that moment out of my eyes and stood there; waiting to see what he would do next. If his objective was to kill me, then I would not run and I would not fight back. That was not what I'd been taught.

"Rosemarie." He said again. "If you don't take care of this assignment or if you slip up again, I will get rid of you. You have five months to take care of this. No more, no less. If you haven't found the girl a home in the time I have given then not only will I kill her father, but I will kill her and I will kill my brother myself. You will be of no further use to me."

I nodded in understanding and kept my eyes on him as he got up and walked out the door. He gave me one last look over his shoulder. "Five months." Was all he said before he walked out of the door and Lissa walked in again.

"I'm so sorry." she said and I could see that she'd heard what he'd said about me. In five months my life could be over. I held out my arms and she walked over and hugged me. "You're my best friend, Rose. No one could ever take you're place."

I hugged her tightly for another moment before pulling away. The hug had been awkward for us both but I couldn't shake the feeling that she was telling me goodbye. "I can do this, Lissa. Robert's right. They mean nothing to me and if I can't find the girl a home in the next few months then I'll take care of my assignment and the girl will go to the orphanage."

She gave me a small nod and I shrugged my shoulders and said "Besides as your adopted sister, I have to be there to keep you out of trouble."

She laughed and punched me in the arm. "Who was getting who out of trouble last night?"

I shrugged but didn't bother to come back with the fact that I'd save her ass more than once. I went to the freezer and pulled out a bucket of ice cream that we'd picked up the other night and two spoons.

I handed her a spoon and said "Go pick out a movie."

She laughed and ran to our movie closet as I sat on the couch and began to eat some of the ice cream out of the large bucket of Neapolitan ice cream. As kids we'd made the deal that she could eat the strawberry and I could have the vanilla but the chocolate would be split between the two of us.

I laughed as a memory of my father laughing quietly as we watched a horror movie with a bucket of ice cream between Lissa and me. I felt a small pull at my heart as memories of simpler times came into my mind.

Lissa came back in and showed me that she'd grabbed _A Cinderella Story _and I couldn't help but laugh. "You know for an assassin you sure do love romance movies."

She laughed as she put the DVD in and came over to flop down beside me on the couch.

After the movie was over it was almost time for me to go and meet Dimitri and Vivienne. I checked the clock and when I looked back I saw the last spoonful of chocolate ice cream was gone.

"Well I guess that means you get stuck with the dishes." I laughed and grabbed my jacket as she processed my words.

"Have fun and be safe." she said and threw my gun and my cellphone at me. "Have safe fun."

I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at her from the couch as I closed the door. I got down the stairs of our apartment, and then took off running as fast as I could. I had to burn the calories off from the ice cream.

About forty-five minutes later I was at the front entrance of the library and saw Vivienne and Dimitri in the booth where I'd first met her. She was laying against his arm, reading the book with him or just listening to him read.

I walked in after taking a deep breath and playing Robert's words through my mind once more. A shimmer off of something caught my eye and I turned to see Eddie Castile, my good friend but also one of Robert's watchers.

He was sent to keep an eye on assassins that may or may not be a liability to the organization. I stood there for a moment, my eyes locked on his. He gave me an apologetic look and looked back down to his book. I wanted to run but I knew a sign of weakness would be reported back to Robert.

I took a deep breath and walked over to Dimitri and Vivienne. I fixed on a smile that I hoped looked real. "Mind if I join you?"

*****Well there's chapter eight! Hope you guys are still enjoying the story and sorry for the late update. R&amp;R and tell me what you think. **


	9. Chapter 9

Dimitri stared up at me for a moment, almost like he was looking for something but Vivienne quickly stole his attention by jumping up from her seat.

She grabbed my arm and turned to him, her big brown eyes a mirror image of his own. "Daddy, there's not much light left. Let's go." She gave him a big smile and he stood from his chair, grabbing a long coat as he did so.

He pulled the coat on and I quickly recognized the coat as a duster, like several of the old cowboys in movies used to wear. He seemed to have quite a fascination for the old west and I made a mental note that before I killed him, I'd have to ask him about that.

"Alright, Viv." We walked out and I was thankful to be leaving the watching eyes but I could still feel them as if they were burning into my back.

I walked quietly as Dimitri and Vivienne pointed out different places and I only listened halfheartedly as my mind wandered back to when I'd woken up before I'd come to meet them. Robert's words echoed in my head at the urgency to have Dimitri six feet under and the threat that if I didn't do it then I would be joining him soon.

I watched as Vivienne walked down the street, chatting so excitedly and happy. Her mother had only recently passed but she seemed to be able to keep her emotions in check. I knew it was a lie, because though I never acted happy, I didn't cry constantly but I trained to keep my mind occupied after losing my father.

I wondered if she kept a brave face for her father. I could see the dark circles under his observant eyes and wondered if he stayed up because of dreams of his wife or if he cried himself to sleep. I shook my head and ignored these thoughts. Not a damn bit of this was important to me.

I saw Viv grab Dimitri's hand and he twirled her around once, causing her to giggle. I looked down away from this moment but I knew I'd never be able to erase it. I'd see this moment before I shot him and I just hoped that the people who took her in treated her half as well as he did.

My own father and I had never had such a moment of us dancing but our memories of watching movies together, eating pizza, and falling asleep on the couch meant more to me than any other memory I had.

Dimitri looked at me puzzled for a moment and I shook my head. "Come again?" I asked and Vivienne laughed.

"Are you hungry? We've been walking for about two hours." He said and when I looked around I noticed that it was dark except for the many city lights as well as the light from the vehicles.

I nodded and Vivienne ran ahead of us just a bit and Dimitri seemed to have to fight the urge to break off into a sprint after her. "Vivienne, stay close."

She screamed then, but not of fear. It was a scream of joy and excitement as she ran full speed ahead through the street, earning a few curious looks from strangers. This time Dimitri did take off after her and I followed moments later. My eyes scanned everything that held a possible threat and saw nothing that stood out, I assumed there was no real danger and slowed down my pace.

I saw Vivienne in a man's arms who couldn't have been any older than I was, with black hair, and blue eyes, his skin was a very pale color, and he wore a smirk with his jeans and shirt. Dimitri gave a sigh of relief as he saw what I did and walked over to them.

"Vivienne, how many times have I told you not to run off like that?" his voice was firm but it was plain to hear the worry in his tone.

She laughed and hugged the man tighter. "Relax, Dimitri. She takes after you in brains. She knows not to run off in a hell hole like this."

I looked to Dimitri, who gave the man a look of disapproval but a smile as well. "I know but I'd at least like her to warn me."

"You're detective skills suck man." He put Vivienne back on her feet and she walked over and reached her arms up. Dimitri immediately leaned down and picked her up. She was too old to be carried like that but Dimitri didn't seem to care.

Vivienne gave me a smile and pulled on Dimitri's hair lightly and when he turned to her, she looked back at me. He looked back and I felt uncomfortable as all eyes were on me. Dimitri gave me an apologetic look and turned to the man.

"Christian, this is Rose Hathaway. She's a friend of Viv's." I ignored that specification. "Rose, this is a close friend of the family."

"Christian Ozera. Nice to meet you." He held out a hand and I shook his hand firmly before pulling away.

"Like wise." We stood there in an awkward silence for a moment before Vivienne broke it.

"We're going to get dinner. Are you hungry, Uncle Christian?" this earned a chuckle from both of the men.

"If your dad's paying, absolutely." Dimitri rolled his eyes. It was the first time I'd seen him let his guard up even when I was watching him from the building across from his apartment. His expression always seemed to be… cautious.

Vivienne hopped down from Dimitri's arms and she took my hand, dragging me with her. We came to a rather expensive looking restaurant and I followed the three of them wordlessly as we entered.

A woman smiled at the two men flirtatiously and led us to our table. She gave the two men and Vivienne their menus and walked away quickly.

Vivienne propped hers up so I could see it but I shook my head. Her face fell a bit and I gave her a half smile. She went back to looking at her menu but kept looking back at me. I hadn't had an appetite to start with. I'd been eating more than I was used to and didn't think I'd want anything on top of the ice cream Lissa and I had eaten earlier.

They ordered a simple meal and drinks and Vivienne ordered and extra water with a lemon and I gave her a look. "It's good." She said and I laughed. Dimitri looked from his conversation with Christian and gave me a questioning look.

"Are you sure you're not hungry? Don't worry about the cost." He said reassuringly and I just shook my head.

"I ate before I headed out to meet you. Thank you though." He stared at me for a moment before his phone that he'd laid on the table began to buzz. He looked down with a questioning look on his face and the kicked Christian.

Christian acted like nothing happened except for the tightening of his eyes. A person who hadn't been trained to notice everything wouldn't have noticed the exchange and so I acted as such.

The waitress appeared a minute later with our drinks in hand and when she leaned down to give me mine, she revealed as much cleavage as possible without any additional help. I laughed as Dimitri and Christian seemed to be completely oblivious and continued talking about… whatever the hell they'd been discussing.

I took a sip of the lemon with water and was surprised to see that Vivienne had been right. It was one of the best drinks I'd had in a long time.

"What did I tell you?" she joked and I laughed lightly. It was strange to my own ears but she smiled at me approvingly.

"I'll be sure to take your advice next time it comes to meals." Dimitri let out a soft laugh and gave his little girl a smile.

"She gets that from her mother." He and Viv seemed far away for a moment and seemed to be lost in a different time. I studied their expressions for a moment and saw a look in Dimitri's eyes as my father once had when he mentioned my mother. It was the only time I could remember that he'd mentioned her but I'd never cared to know her, so she wasn't discussed often.

"Are we going to eat while it's hot or have they changed tradition to eating steak cold?" Christian asked and began to dig into his food.

Dimitri laughed and Vivienne pushed her mashed potatoes towards me. "I don't like them." I smiled and took the extra fork and began to eat a bit.

"So Rose, what do you do for a living?" Christian asked and I bit the end of my straw. _Kill whoever my boss tells me to so I can kill the bastard that killed my father. _That was the immediate thought that came to my mind but my lips never moved to answer.

I thought for a moment before taking the straw out of my mouth. "Not really working at the moment. We got the apartment from a friend who lives down here."

"We?" he asked and I nodded once.

"Lissa and I have been friends for… a very long time." to say the least. The more years you spent in the organization the older you felt. It seemed like your age plus the amount of years you'd been there were two different numbers.

"Will I get to meet her?" Vivienne asked with a smile. Dimitri gave her a disapproving look and I shook my head.

"I'm not sure. She's gone a lot and she's kind of shy." Not entirely a lie. Shooting people in the head? No problem. Having a conversation with someone who you could continue talking to? Not likely.

A few hours later, I was walking home alone despite Dimitri's offer to walk with me. He'd been concerned with my safety and I couldn't help but think of how ironic it was. I wondered how much hate I'd seen in his eyes before I pulled the trigger to end his life. After I'd convinced him I'd be ok, he and Vivienne had walked off with Christian, laughing as they went. It was obvious that Christian was very close to both of them.

I felt sick. Watching Vivienne and Dimitri this evening had been difficult to watch. She'd be lost when he was gone and I knew that no one could take his place. She'd wonder why both of her parents had been taken from her at such a young age and so quickly going after the other.

Dimitri's days were numbered even fewer now... because I'd found a potential home for Vivienne.


	10. Chapter 10

The gunshot I heard in my sub consciousness was the reason I woke up the next morning. Images invaded my mind of the night my father was murdered and hard as I tried I couldn't shake them. My reality was half in a dream state and for a moment, I felt young and defenseless again. I closed my eyes and shook my head, clearing my mind and forcing myself to come back to reality.

When I opened my eyes again my father's dead body was replaced with a basket of neatly folded laundry and Victor along with his henchmen were changed into various objects around the room of the apartment.

I saw that the sun was out and from the looks of the setting it was after noon. I pulled on a fresh set of clothes and grabbed the cell phone from my dresser. I punched in the all too familiar number and my call was answered on the first ring.

"What can I do for you?" Mia's voice sounded over the phone and I grabbed the brush from my nightstand and walked to the bathroom.

"I need a file on a man named Christian Ozera sent to me as soon as possible." I told her and I could hear the sound of file cabinets slamming.

"Personal delivery or pick up?" she asked and I pulled my hair back, making sure not one hair was out of place.

"Delivery, in and out as quickly and casually as possible." I put the phone on speaker and placed my gun in the large coat I wore. It's only use was for concealing a gun, even by my means it was an ugly coat.

"Should I tell Robert you are making progress?" I rolled my eyes at the question and thought for a moment.

"In the progress of making progress would be a better name for it." she laughed lightly and then went quiet. "I'm heading to check out the complex now." I pressed the end button before she could answer, slipped on my boots, and walked out the door.

Lissa wasn't here this morning so I didn't have to worry about an explanation of where I was. She was so like her mother at points, worrying about my safety. I hadn't quite figured out if the instincts were that of an actual mother or simply the worry over a friend. My own mother had walked out on me before I could ask.

I walked the streets, blending in with the rest of the crowd of Missoula and kept my eyes down. I saw Dimitri's apartment not long into my walk as well as the old building next to it. Completely abandoned, few windows, and in too dangerous of a spot to tear down. Standing on the building that first night had been a trial, due to the simple fact that areas in the roof were fragile.

I stopped when I stood between the two buildings from the sidewalk and stared up. The highest window on the fourth story would offer the least amount of lighting in the night but would provide a difficult angle into the apartment. The second story window was placed where I would be able to execute a perfect shot but would be easily spotted. The best spot was on the roof. There was no way around that but the fucking roof gave no cover.

I took a deep breath to calm myself but the thought of Robert's impatience ruined any chance of calmness. I thought back to the alley where I'd staged Dimitri and Vivienne's rescue. It offered almost no lighting at all and the traffic was busy enough to drown out much of the sound from the silenced bullet I planned on using.

It would be a cruel sense of irony but also very fitting considering the circumstances. I'd kill Dimitri in the same area that I saved both him and his daughter. Talk about a bite in the ass.

I wondered if he would beg me not to kill his daughter, if he would think that I could ever hurt her. I'd never admit that to a soul and only because Vivienne wasn't on my assignment list. In some ways, she reminded me of my life before I lost my father. She was young and innocent, even after losing her mother, she managed to laugh and smile. To see the world as beautiful despite the actual hell it was.

I admired her in that way. She hadn't let the evil of the world taint her after the brutal death of a parent but I wondered if all of that would change after she found out someone she trusted had murdered the one person left in this world she loved. She had other family but they were all somewhere in Russia last I'd read and I couldn't guarantee whether or not she would be willing to go with them and leave behind everything that reminded her of her dead parents.

Then again maybe going somewhere and starting over would be the best thing for her to do. According to their files, his family was full of kind and loving people but Vivienne had only seen them a handful of times in her life. Everything she loved would disappear before she had the chance to truly cherish it.

I looked down to the sidewalk again and the questions I'd asked myself since meeting her ran through my mind. I didn't even bother to stop their assault this time. _Would she come after me? Would she seek someone to train her to kill the person that took everything from her? Would she kill other innocent people if they offered her the chance?_

Her innocence would be lost and she would never be able to get it back, despite the efforts of a normal life. My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar pattern of footsteps and I had to remind myself to not look back to him.

Normal people weren't able to detect a person they didn't know very well by the sound of their feet hitting the ground. He got closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I forced myself to jump and turn around with a hand over my heart.

"It's you." I sounded breathless and startled as I looked to him. Dimitri had a smile on his face and gave a small laugh.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was on my way home and thought you'd gotten lost." I felt a bit of guilt rise in the fact that he'd thought I'd needed help in a city that was supposed to be new to me.

I gave a simple shrug and looked back toward the building beside his apartment. "No, I was… just on my way home."

He gave me a look that didn't bother to hide the fact that he only half believed me but I knew for a fact that the thought of me scoping the perfect place to kill him didn't cross his mind.

"It was good seeing you again." I said and didn't give him the time to answer before I was already about halfway down the street.

He didn't chase after me and I was thankful for that. I walked up the stairs to our apartment and walked in to find Lissa on the couch with Christian's file in her hands.

I didn't acknowledge her at first but simply took off the awful coat and laid my gun on the coffee table. I held out a hand for the file and she handed it over.

"Good looking, bit of a trouble maker in high school, some trouble with arson, and turned out to be a fire fighter, interesting enough."

I opened the file and sat down. I scanned through the papers and everything Lissa had said about him pretty much summed him up. Which was disappointing, in a way.

"In other words, I have to keep looking." This caused her to look up confused. "He's a workaholic who's never home. This would be a hell of a lot easier if the bastard had someone in his will to take her."

I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes annoyed at the situation. "In other words, he's as picky as you are when it comes to finding someone for his daughter."

I opened my eyes and glared at her but she met my glare this time with a smirk. I got up and grabbed the file.

"I'm going to bed." I told her and walked to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I sat on my bed and laid out Dimitri's files again, along with a list of people he associated with often. It was going to be a long review night.


	11. Chapter 11

I woke up the next morning still fully dressed and Dimitri's file on my pillow. I sat up and grabbed the file again before running a hand through my hair to get it out of my face. I looked outside and saw that it was very early in the morning. The sun wasn't fully out quite yet which meant it wouldn't be long before Dimitri would be heading to work. I didn't hear Lissa moving around in the apartment. I got up and grabbed my cell before walking down the street stairs to the street.

I stopped a cab and asked the guy to take me to the library and stared at my cell phone as I thought of the next part of this plan. It wasn't one thought all the way through but I could hear the clock ticking wildly in my head as I thought of the amount of time I had left.

"Here you are miss. Would you like me to wait on you?" He asked and I looked into my pocket and found the fifty that I had stuck in there the night before.

"No, I'm having a friend pick me up." I handed him the money and before turning to the library said "keep the change."

I walked to the front of the library and dialed Dimitri's number. It rang three times before he picked up.

"Hello?" he said and I could tell by the thickness in his accent and the roughness of his voice I'd woken him up.

"I'm so sorry. Did I wake you up?" I put fake concern in my voice and tried to make myself sound slightly nervous.

I could hear him moving out of bed and his feet hitting the floor. "No, I was awake." Terrible liar. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I decided to go to the library and I realized a little late that I only had enough money for the ride here. Is there some chance you could help me out? I'm still not fully familiar with the streets." It was a simple and believable lie.

I waited silently until I heard keys being picked off of a table of some kind. I'd learned that he had a car but preferred to walk because it was something he and his wife had always done. She'd been one who enjoyed the outdoors and saw no point in driving unless it was late at night or work purposes.

It was late at night when the accident had happened. They'd all gone out for dinner and a movie but hadn't made it due to a drunk driver. The driver had gotten off with probation and a suspended license but no more than two nights in jail.

"Yeah, no problem. Vivienne's still asleep. I'll call Tasha and ask her to sit with her just in case she wakes up."

I could hear that he was already out of the house and with a quick thank you, I hung up the phone. I dialed another number and held the phone to my ear. "Mia, tracking and records." I almost laughed at the casual tone. There were some of us who tried to joke around and make the day more bearable but not many.

"Tasha Ozera. Possibly Natasha. Information to the apartment in the next hour." I told her and hung up. She hated when I did that but I wasn't one who said goodbye. My father had said for years that saying goodbye was only something you said at funerals not to a living person.

I walked to Dimitri's car and opened the car door. I looked to him and saw dark circles under his eyes and turned away. "Sorry for waking you up so early. I have no idea where my roommate got off too." She was only passed out asleep.

"It's really not a problem. Would you like some breakfast?" he asked and I felt my stomach do a back flip.

"You're driving. It's not like I have a life yet." He laughed at this and I felt a smile pull at my lips but before it could form it fell.

"Why do you do that?" he asked and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I do what?" he looked directly to my lips and I felt the urge to turn away again but fought against it.

"You don't smile." He said and I thought for a minute. He still smiled after losing his wife just recently but I didn't after all these years. Not that I could tell him the reason behind that.

I simply shrugged and looked away. What business of it was his anyway? He still had something of his wife. His daughter, pictures, several years of wedded bliss. I had memories and his killer walking around.

Despite the hate that I'd carried with me all these years, my physical appearance hadn't changed much. The picture of Dimitri with his wife and daughter and the picture of him in my file made him look as if he'd aged several years when it had only been a short time.

By no means was he bad looking though, I'd give him that. His long brown and dark eyes could steal almost any woman's heart… if they had one to give away at least. Romance had been out of the question for me a long time ago. My father never told me what happened between him and my mother or what caused her to leave but he loved her until the day he died and I could recall him holding the picture of her close to him at night.

That kind of love was wonderful to have if it didn't cost you your life. An assassin distracted by love was as good as dead unless the one you fell in love with was in the organization. You could watch each other's backs then but if not…

I shook my head and threw myself back into the present. I looked over to Dimitri and saw that he had a ring on his pinkie finger. It was in the shape of a heart and was solid black at the band but the heart itself was blue and I saw three sets of initials in the smallest engraving.

"That's an interesting accessory." I said and I'll admit my curiosity had gotten to me. He looked down at his little finger and smiled sweetly.

"A gift from Vivienne. She's been saving since her mother died. She said that I needed a reminder that her and mother loved me every day. Despite the distance between all of us." he stopped talking then and looked up at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. She's a sweet girl." I stared at the ring and he smiled brightly.

"We're all we have now. My family is in Russia and can't come to America legally yet. She doesn't like to go visit as much as she loves them. I can't even imagine what would happen to her if I passed away. I guess I need to think of that soon. I haven't really decided who I trust enough to take care of my baby girl if something happens to me."

He said something else but my mind was far off. My heart raced and my head started spinning as images of Vivienne alone raced through my mind and I saw her slowly growing up, all of the beauty that made her who she was disappeared.

What now?

*****Well there it is. So sorry my updates are taking forever. I am constantly writing but I don't have internet available at all times. I am going to finish my stories though. Promise! Anyways R&amp;R and I hope you have enjoyed! **


	12. Chapter 12

"She's a sweet girl." I finally said after a long moment of silence. He didn't once take his eyes off the road but smiled.

"Thank you. What about you?" I was confused for a moment and waited to see if he would take my silence as a sign to be more specific. "Do you have any kids or family of your own?"

I bit my lip as I felt the urge to tell him that it was none of his fucking business. I took a deep breath and said "My dad died when I was eight and I never knew my mother."

"Child birth?" he asked and I realized he was asking about my mother. I shook my head and looked down, anger boiling in my blood.

"No, she didn't want to be a mom." I looked out the window for fear of what he could see in my eyes. I knew that my anger was the one emotion that was always clear on my face.

We drove in silence for a little while until he finally spoke up. "Would you like to join me and Vivienne for lunch?" he asked and I found myself completely off guard. I looked at him and knew I was giving him a puzzled look.

"Why?" I found myself asking and immediately wanted to kick myself. I was supposed to be getting to know him and here I was throwing away a perfectly good opportunity.

"Vivienne adores you and I barely know you. If you're going to be spending time with my child, shouldn't we get to know each other?" he asked and raised an eyebrow at me. I gave a smirk as he did so. I'd never learned how to raise only of my eyebrows and as childish as it was, it frustrated me to no end.

"I don't see why not." I told him and relaxed into my seat. Then a thought occurred as I remembered the night Vivienne and I met. "Will Christian or another of your friends be joining us?"

He laughed then and I felt a slight rise of irritation. "What's funny?" I asked and was proud to say that my irritated tone was nonexistent as I spoke.

"I talk to two people outside of my family. You've met Christian and I'm assuming since you met Vivienne on a night I was working, you've also met Tasha." I nodded with understanding then.

"Yes, I did. She seems… decent." I finally settled on and he had a bit of a troubled look in his eyes.

"She is. She's a great help with Vivienne and she's helped out a lot since I got changed to night classes."

This was something I'd missed. "You're going to school?"

He turned onto a lane and I could tell we were getting closer to his apartment. I saw the building next to his in view and also saw the look of amusement in his eyes. "No, I'm a history professor at NYU. I've been teaching the night classes so I can be there for Viv during the day when she gets home from school."

I nodded once and looked away. How the hell had I missed that in his profile? More importantly, what the fuck did Robert want a history teacher dead for?

I looked over to the man beside me and really looked this time. I saw a man who was mourning his wife, who was struggling to support his child, who was trying to be two parents at once and make sure that his love for that child wasn't doubted, a man who would do anything for his daughter.

What I didn't see, was a threat to my organization. All of the people I'd killed in the past had been obvious threats but looking at Dimitri now, I knew he wouldn't take a chance on missing one day with Viv.

I shook the thought away and reminded myself that I had to trust my organization. I had to trust Robert because he was the only who knew for certain who was a threat and who wasn't. We weren't taught to ask questions, we were trained to kill without a reason.

We pulled up into the apartment's parking lot and got out of the car, quickly walking to Dimitri's apartment and I realized that this would be the first time I saw the inside of any of my assignments' homes.

We stood in silence in the elevator and walked the same to his door but the silence was quickly gone as soon as the door swung open.

"Ms. Rose!" Vivienne squealed and ran past Dimitri and straight to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist in an embrace and I thought for a moment before wrapping my own arms around her in a quick hug.

I backed away quickly and looked down at her shining brown eyes and wild strawberry blond curls. She grabbed my hand and led me inside.

"Ms. Rose is joining us for lunch Viv." Dimitri said and placed his keys and duster on the coffee table closest to the door.

"Does that mean you're cooking, daddy?" she asked and he nodded. "Thank goodness. I'm going to go get some books."

I looked to him and slid my hands in my pocket, hoping to keep him from noticing my discomfort. "You cook?"

He nodded and sat down on the gray couch in the middle of the living room. "Don't you?"

"I've perfected the art of boiling water out of a pot." I told him and he laughed lightly. I found myself smiling as I heard the sound. I let the smile drop from my face and reminded myself of my assignment to keep it off.

Vivienne ran back in and I sat on the couch as she jumped up beside me, a book in her hand. It was an old western and by the looks of it, it was written in Russian.

"Western fan?" I asked and tossed a look over my shoulder to Dimitri. "Have a fascination with being an outlaw?"

He shook his head and walked over to sit on the other side of Vivienne. "It's more the freedom of being your own person. I had a fascination as a kid and it's one of the reasons I decided I wanted to teach history."

I nodded once and leaned in to look at the book with Vivienne as he walked off to the kitchen. I listened as she read the story in English and tried to match some of the words to the language in the book but had no such luck.

Dimitri walked in with three plates of mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese casserole, and hot wings. I laughed aloud as he gave me my plate. "Very American."

He and Vivienne joined in on the laughter as he set a plate in Vivienne's lap and placed his on the small table beside the couch.

"Russian food looks weird but it tastes really good." Vivienne said as she dipped a hot wing in her mashed potatoes.

Dimitri walked in with three iced Dr. Peppers and handed one to me and Vivienne before sitting down next to his daughter.

"I figured you'd appreciate something you recognized for your first dinner. I'll introduce you to some Russian foods later. That is, if you decide to have lunch with us again" Dimitri said and smiled at me. "You're more than welcome here."

"Thank you." I said and it was all I could manage as I suddenly lost my appetite. He'd welcomed an assassin into his home with him and his daughter.

I watched as he eyed Viv during the rest of lunch and she smiled as she happily ate, cuddling into his side every so often. I dropped my eyes then and ate the rest of my meal in silence as he and Vivienne talked over her school work and what she was reading. I simply laughed and nodded through the rest of my time with them.

"I need to get home. It's getting late." I said and stood from the couch, making my way to the sink in the kitchen.

I walked back in and turned to both of them. "Thank you for having me here. It was nice seeing you again."

Vivienne got up and ran towards the door and wrapped her arms around my waist and I returned her hug, this time not as hesitant. I stepped out of the hug and looked up at Dimitri.

He smiled and grabbed his keys off the table but I held up a hand. "I'll walk. I could use the exercise."

"Thank you for joining us this evening." He said placing his keys back on the table.

I opened the door but turned back around to face him. "Thank you for everything. I'll try to double check my cab fare next time."

"It's not a problem at all." He said and I nodded once before walking out of the door and heading to the elevator.

"Come back soon!" I heard Vivienne yell down the hallway and I quickened my steps. I could hear the smile in her voice and cringed as images rushed into my mind.

I wished I'd have been smarter and just killed Dimitri or had requested another assignment, no matter how unlikely it was to happen. I'd earned their trust and that meant I was another step closer to destroying Vivienne's life and ending Dimitri's.

I closed my eyes and thought of my father, and realized that he was the only one who could answer the questions I had. I didn't understand why or how the organization picked the targets and I didn't know how Dimitri was a threat to our way of life.

It was just something I would have to figure out on my own, I guess.

*****Well there we go. I hope that answered some questions and I wanted to say thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. R&amp;R and let me know what you think. **


	13. Chapter 13

Two days after my visit with Dimitri and Vivienne, I found myself in Robert's office. I didn't know what the reason was but my stomach was in knots. Eddie sat in the room with me and I knew that he didn't want to be here anymore than I was. He was the one who'd been sent to watch Lissa and I. A rare case like this gave cause for alarm and so to ease his own nerves, Robert had sent Eddie to watch me.

Eddie wasn't a bad person though. He was very good at his job and very good at killing who he was assigned to kill but when it came to one of our members, he was one of the few who still had a heart that broke when one of us were lost.

"Rosemarie." Robert's voice echoed and it was calm. This caused me to turn around and look at him. His expression was as calm as his voice and I forced my eyes to meet his. He smiled and before I had registered, I was on the floor and my cheek ached where his fist had met my bone.

I put my hand to my cheek and when I pulled back, I saw blood. "He doesn't know anything. Has your brain stopped working or do you think I would really be so fucking stupid as to tell him that I was after him?"

I was met by a swift kick in my stomach and it knocked me further on the floor. I resisted the urge to fight back. If I had found Vivienne a home where I knew she would be safe, I knew I could kill Robert before someone got to me. I'd been trained to kill without a second thought and Robert was no different.

"I know you wouldn't say anything to him. You are getting awfully close to him though." He grabbed a handful of my hair and slammed me down into the floor. "I felt the urge to remind you that I enjoy killing people. Regardless of who it is, it'll be slow and painful. It doesn't matter if I trained them or not."

I felt my head start to spin and when he leaned down to me to say something, I reached up and my fist connected with his nose. "Then you should know that you didn't train me to not fight back. Kill me if you want to, I don't give a damn. I have nothing to live for. Dimitri couldn't mean anything less to me. As for Vivienne, I'd rather her not end up in some hell home."

He leaned back and sat in his chair across from Eddie, who looked like this was the last place he wanted to be. I stood back up on my feet, fighting the urge to put my hand over my bruising ribs. Robert simply let the blood flow from his nose onto his white dress shirt and stared at me.

He laughed then and I glared at me. "Rose, that is exactly why you're still here. I have no intention of killing you. I never did."

I stared him down and he smiled as he continued. "However, if things don't go as planned with Mr. Belikov and you reveal certain secrets… I'll make him watch as I paint the walls of his apartment with the little girl's blood."

I saw the vision too clearly and turned my head away from him so he couldn't see the fear in my eyes. "It'll be done soon. Dimitri will not be a concern of yours for much, whatever the reason."

I heard Robert stand behind me and couldn't bring myself to turn around even though I realized that I was leaving myself vulnerable emotionally and physically. "Rosemarie, face me."

I wiped the sorrow off my face and faced him with the anger that I held inside. He held my eyes for a moment and I clenched my hands into fists at my side.

"You want nothing more than to be able to get justice for your father's murder. I want nothing more than to give this to you. But the moment you begin to ask questions, you're dangerous, the minute you're dangerous, you're not to be trusted, and the minute you're can't be trusted… I'll kill you myself."

I felt my body become chilled and nodded once to him and walked out of his office. I walked past everyone in the building and ignored their eyes. I wanted nothing more than to get I waited till I was outside of the prison grounds before I felt my body involuntarily fall to the grass.

I clutched my ribs as the pain hit all at once. The emotional pain that I'd been holding in since my father died, the memories of his death invaded my mind, my mother leaving, the image of Vivienne losing everything, the image of her dying, and the image of her crying as Dimitri lay lifeless on the floor with a bullet to the heart proved too much combined with the physical pain.

I didn't cry though. I wasn't going to allow that. Life was hard and it was hard for everyone, there were no exceptions. I would kill Victor before my life was over but I realized that if I truly wanted Vivienne safe, I'd have to take other measures as well. Due to my weakness, in Robert's eyes it was possible for several more to make the stupid choices that I've made and that was a risk he couldn't take.

He would have to make sure than no one followed in my footsteps. This meant that I would be made an example of in the end, after I'd killed Victor. He'd give me the assignment to kill his brother after I killed Dimitri. He would then drag me back here and after forcing me to watch as he killed Vivienne, I'd be next.

I looked up at the stars and remembered the times my father and I had stared up at them from the roof of the prison. He'd never wanted this life for me because he knew that, eventually, it would get me killed. He had been right but I couldn't change the past even if I wanted to.

I would have to kill Robert regardless of the cost. I wouldn't let Vivienne die like that, not after losing Dimitri. I couldn't save both of them, nor did I care to, but I would save her.

I would be alone with this decision. I knew without wanting to that Lissa would be willing to risk everything to help me. She was my best friend and regardless of how emotionless and distant I was with her, I knew this was true. I wouldn't bring her into this and would make it seem like it was a spur of the moment decision to kill Robert. I wouldn't let her put herself or her family in danger by helping me.

I took a deep breath and stood from the ground, my ribs screaming at me to stop moving as I did so. "I'm sorry, dad."

On this note, I started my walk home.

***Well there you have it. I hope you all are still enjoying the story and I apologize for the long breaks between chapters. R&amp;R and let me know what you think.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been over a week since my confrontation with Robert and I still felt pain in my ribs every time I moved, but I didn't bruise easy thankfully. Lissa hadn't bothered asking questions when I'd arrived at our apartment, she didn't need to though. She knew very well what had happened. In a lot of ways, news spread faster in the organization than in a high school.

I reminded myself to seem calm and collected as I walked onto the campus of the university Dimitri worked at. I reminded myself that normal people don't constantly scan for danger but then again most people don't have to worry about being shot at by someone who knows exactly what they are doing.

I walked to the front desk and tried my best at a friendly smile to the woman with long brown hair. "Can you point me in the direction of Mr. Belikov's room?" the woman gave me a few directions and I nodded a quick thank you before heading that way.

I walked in his room to find him during a break and his nose deep in a western. I noticed several images of Vivienne and his wife on his desk. Some of the images were of all of them smiling, several of her and Vivienne, and then a picture of Vivienne as a baby.

"Do you mind if I interrupt you for a minute?" I asked and slid my hands into my jeans. He looked up and smiled as he saw me.

He put the book down and stood from his chair. "Of course I don't mind. I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been pretty busy." I casually shrugged. _Busy waiting on the busted lip and cuts to heal_,I couldn't stop the thoughts from coming into my mind. "My friend and I have been looking around for a few things to go in our apartment and have been job searching."

The lie slid off easily and I could remember Rhea, Lissa's mother, telling me time and time again that lying was one of the worse parts of the job. She'd never been a good liar, but it was easy to lie to those who didn't know you.

"What kind of job are you looking for? I could ask around if you'd like." He offered and I simply shrugged.

I thought of the first thing that came to mind and said "We're not going to be here long, so there's really no point. We have a few loose ends to tie up back home."

He nodded and took out his phone, a look crossing his face. "Well, I don't have class for another half hour. Would you like to join me for lunch?"

I fought the urge to immediately say no and realized that this was going to be one of the few times I saw him without Vivienne. Better now than later, I suppose.

"That sounds great." I said and he grabbed his keys off of his desk, along with his duster before we headed off campus.

I stayed quiet for much of the walk but in the back of my mind, I had a million questions running through and I knew that I was being more observant than normal but the last thing I felt like dealing with was one of Robert's eyes on me.

The alley where Jesse and I had our fight caught my eye and I grabbed Dimitri's arm. "How about we walk through here? There's a great little deli on the other side of the building."

He arched an eyebrow at me but followed regardless. I noticed that I still had my arm through his and dropped it at my side and looked up at the very top of the building, pleased to find it empty.

"Are you okay?" he asked and I looked back at him with a questioning look. He looked almost… worried.

I nodded before looking back ahead. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just looking around."

"Are you looking for anything specific? A boyfriend maybe?" he asked and I couldn't help the sound of laughter that escaped me before I could catch it.

I was surprised at my own outburst and tried to collect my emotions. "No, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm not really looking, not with everything I have going on."

"You do that a lot you know." He said and I didn't bother to hide the puzzled look on my face. "You don't show your emotions."

I looked straight ahead and stuffed my hands into my pockets. "I've learned over time that showing emotions is dangerous."

We walked in silence until we nearly got to the edge of the alley way when he spoke. "People often use our emotions against us so we learn to cover them up. After someone's been hurt, they don't know how to trust anyone enough to show who they are anymore."

Someone had used his emotions before and I had no doubts once so ever about which bitch tried to take advantage of his instability after his wife died. A raven haired woman came to mind and my blood began to boil. I'd definitely have to shoot her before going after Victor and Robert.

I had no doubts that with no one left in his will to take her, she would take Vivienne without a second thought and I didn't want to think about the misery that Vivienne would go through with Natasha Ozera.

Her file was perfectly fitting to every abusive step mother in every fucked up fairytale book. Christian, her nephew, had been in her care since his family was murdered and she had supposedly taken him in out of the goodness of her heart. She and Dimitri had been friends for years but according to the files, she and Christian barely knew each other.

We arrived at the deli and ordered our food before sitting down at a booth in the back corner. I looked up from the Dr. Pepper with lemon that I was drinking and into his brown eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

He put one of the chips in his mouth and leaned back in the booth, sitting up a little straighter than normal. "I won't promise an answer." He looked guarded then and I immediately went on the defensive side but kept my poker face in place.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in his eyes and relaxed a little. "I've seen Vivienne at the library a couple of times now and she usually has a woman with black hair with her. I'm guessing it's when you have your night classes."

"Tasha Ozera. She's a close friend of the family." I stared him down because I could hear a part of the story that he wasn't telling me. He smiled then and said "Tasha and I have actually been friends for a long time and had even considered dating but when I met Noleen… I knew it wasn't going to work between Tasha and me. I'm glad we've stayed friends through the years. I mean, I'd have never met Christian and Vivienne would have one less friend in her life."

Well that explains it. Tasha was probably assuming that the closer she got to Vivienne and now with Noleen out of the way, she'd be able to get more intimate with Dimitri. The thought of someone using a five year old to fuck their dad, made me want to shoot her that much more.

"Vivienne adores Christian but I'm not so sure about Tasha. Seems kind of tense there, don't you think?" I asked and he bit his lip, a knowing look on his face. _He's not oblivious_! Some part of my mind yelled.

He started picking at his sandwich and looked down. "I was hoping it would pass. Vivienne's never really like Tasha and it's pretty easy to see, no matter how hard she tries. I hate leaving her with Tasha so much, but with my job it's kind of hard for me to be home in the afternoon when Vivienne is out of school. I take her with me when Christian and I help out at Max's shop but I know she hates it there."

"Maybe you need to find her a new babysitter. Sticking her with someone she hates is going to make it worse on her than it already is." I took a bit out of my sandwich, letting my point sink in.

He had a frustrated look come across his face as he seemed to be deep in thought. I took a sip of my drink and he looked up then.

"How about you?" he asked and I sucked my drink in a bit too fast. I coughed and tried to catch my breath as I grabbed a few of the napkins. _Fuck!_ I lost my cool at that point. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and he took that as a sign to go on. "If you'd like to, of course. I mean, you said you were looking for a job right? Not to mention, Vivienne adores you."

_Shit, shit shit, SHIT! _was the only think my mind was able to process. I looked into his brown eyes and saw that he was full of sincerity and I knew that I wouldn't be able to talk myself out of this one. How many assassins babysit? How many assassins get fucked over enough to be offered the job of their assignments' kids?

"That'd be great." I said at last and forced a smile on my face that I knew didn't look forced. My heart was beating a million miles a minute and I quickly scanned the restaurant to see if anyone of any importance had noticed my mishap.

Not one of Robert's watchers in sight. I looked back to Dimitri, who had stood and was placing a few bills on the table which I noticed covered both of our meals and the tip. "I have to get back to my student's but I'll talk to Viv and let you know something soon. I'll see you later." he grabbed his jacket from the booth and walked off with that.

I slouched back in the booth and stood there looking at my drink for a minute and slipped my hands into my pockets. My fingers brushed the cool metal of one of the untraceable bullets and I remembered that one of them… was for him.

*****There we go everyone! I hope you are still with me and enjoying the story. Thank you so much for the awesome reviews and have a nice day. Don't forget to R&amp;R! **


	15. Chapter 15

I was having a hard time keeping myself calm as I walked to Dimitri's apartment. Three days ago, I had agreed to watch Vivienne and after informing Robert, who was pleased, and Lissa, who was more than pissed, I had permission to do so.

Lissa knew that this meant that Vivienne could start meaning something to me and getting close to my heart. What she didn't know and what I didn't want to admit, was that she already had. Somewhere Vivienne had become a major part of my life and I couldn't think of anything that scared me more.

I walked up the stairs to the apartment complex and didn't have to knock on the door as Dimitri came out. He was wearing his usual jeans, t-shirt, and duster with his hair pulled back and a history book in hand.

"Hey." He said and handed me the keys to his apartment. "Lock up if you go anywhere and my cousin is going to be by later to help Vivienne with an art project later. He'll be here around six and I'll go ahead and apologize ahead of time for any rude comments he might make."

"I can handle myself and last I checked you are two different people. We'll be fine." I said and he smiled before turning around.

Vivienne came running down the hall in her jeans, boots, and a shirt. He got down to her height and wrapped his arms around her small body and she hugged his neck.

"I love you, daddy." She said and he kissed her cheek.

"I love you, sweet girl." He stood up straight after that and looked back at me, a nervous look in his eyes.

I nodded for him to leave and hoped that my eyes showed that I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He may not know, but she was well protected. I had no doubts about my abilities and would have no problem using them on anyone who tried to hurt her.

He walked off and once he was out of sight, I turned to Vivienne. "So what do you want to do?"

She thought for a minute before grabbing my hand and walking me over to a book shelf. "It's the one on the top and it's blue. Please?"

I reached up on my tip toes and was able to slide the book far enough over so that I could get it down easier. I saw that it was all Russian and therefor there was no way in hell I was going to be able to make out what it was about.

I looked at Vivienne with a questioning look and wondered why it was so far up on the shelf if she could read it. She looked down at her feet and a small said smile spread across her face.

"It was mommy's favorite book. Daddy wanted to make sure that it stayed safe." I handed her the book without a second thought and she gave me a thankful smile as she hugged the book to her tightly. "Thank you."

I nodded and felt my lips twitch lightly in a half way smile before walking over to the window and seeing the building and the spot I had planned on shooting Dimitri from. I wasn't sure if I was glad that I didn't or if I was coming to regret my decision. All I knew was that I couldn't escape the reality of my life. I was going to kill Dimitri and Robert, that was all that was certain.

"Ms. Rose?" I turned around and saw Vivienne looking down at the book. "Would you like to see a picture of my mommy?"

I bit my lip to stop myself from saying no and instead walked over to where she sat on the couch. She pulled a picture from the book and handed it to me, a smile on her face. I studied the picture for a moment and couldn't help but see how much she looked like both her mother and her father. Her brown eyes were from Dimitri but her strawberry blonde hair was so clearly her mother's as well as her nose.

Noleen was truly the light of both of their lives and in this picture of them, it was no mistake. You could see the happiness and love was unmistakable in the image of the three of them sitting on a porch swing. The happily married couple held their three year old child between them and looked down at her adoringly as they held hands on their little girl's lap. I'd never seen brighter smiles and I knew that they never would again.

"She looks a lot like you." I said and she gave me a smile that seemed to make the room a little brighter. That phrase had always sounded ridiculous to me but I now understood it.

A knock on the door caused me to look up quickly and I felt my body tense as if a threat were nearby. Dimitri had said that his cousin would be coming by but this didn't feel like a family visit. I slid my hand into my pocket and felt the cool metal of my gun as I stood up from the couch.

"Vivienne, why don't you go find us a movie to watch?" I asked and she smiled before closing the book after kissing the picture of her mother. I waited till she was all the way in the back room that I'm assuming held the movies and walked toward the door.

I fought the urge to look through the peep hole and pulled my gun from my pocket and slid it slightly behind my back, my finger already on the trigger. I took a deep breath and calmly opened the door.

"You!" I slid my gun up into view and aimed it at the man's heart. "Give me one good reason not to shoot you right now?"

He laughed and rolled his eyes before putting a hand on my gun. "I'm supposed to be here, unlike you."

I slid my gun into my pocket out sight just as Vivienne came running from the back room. I moved out of her way and watched as she jumped into the man's arms.

"Adrian!"

*****Well there's the next chapter. Things are getting pretty tense and they are just getting started. R&amp;R and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading and for the awesome reviews!**


	16. Chapter 16

It was close to nine o'clock that night when Dimitri got home and things had definitely been tense with Adrian there now. If Vivienne had noticed she'd been awfully quiet. I wanted nothing more than to get him away from her, take him into the woods, and shoot him until the clip in my gun was empty. It was the only event I could think of that would make me even remotely close to happy.

He was a traitor and a liar, and I would make sure that he paid for what he'd done some day. It wouldn't take much to convince Robert to let me kill him but I didn't need any more stress and since Vivienne appeared to love him, I would leave him alone until Dimitri's death.

She'd grieve longer but at least she wouldn't lose them in a short time span. Losing them together would cause her to move on faster in a way. Robert would want him dead immediately and I couldn't put her through that.

Adrian knew too much though and if he posed more of a threat I would kill him. This in turn would send Victor's assassins on Robert's and it would turn into a blood bath. Two years ago, Adrian had belonged to Robert's organization and had stolen valuable information that none of us knew. Robert never spoke of what he'd stolen but he'd said that it could unravel the organization at its core.

I had no doubt that our organization was corrupted but that wasn't the reason I wanted Adrian dead. Right before Adrian stole whatever the hell he stole, James, the closest thing I had to a friend besides Lissa and Mason, accompanied him on a hunt for one of Victor's assassins. After strangling, shooting, and stabbing James, Adrian left his body at the organization's entrance as a warning to the rest of us.

I turned away from him and walked further over to the window just as the door came open. "Daddy!" Vivienne screamed happily and ran over to him. I could see in the reflection in the mirror, her running to him and he hugged her tightly. He moved so that he was standing up right but grabbed her hand

"Rose?" his accent thickened slightly with the concern in his voice. I turned and looked back at him. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded once and looked back out the window to the building across from his apartment.

"Что ты сделал?" Dimitri growled and I turned back to him. He was glaring at Adrian and I normally would have stayed quiet but this wasn't the time.

I walked over to him and knew that I had to establish the fact that I was welcomed by Adrian but needed to not over step boundaries with Dimitri. I had no fucking clue what he said but I knew assumed that he thought Adrian had said something.

I placed a hand on his forearm and settled for a soothing look that I'd seen Sabina do so many times with new agents. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. By the looks of it, you could use some sleep yourself. What time do you want me back tomorrow?" I asked.

He looked at me surprised and Vivienne grinned brightly at her father. "Two o'clock." She said and pulled on Dimitri's arm. "Daddy?"

He looked down at her and smiled tiredly. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"You need some sleep." he laughed and picked her up and put her on his hip.

He kissed her forehead and looked into a mirror of his own brown eyes. "Then let's go to sleep."

He looked to me and smiled. "I'll see you at two." He turned to Adrian and gave him an apologetic look but didn't say anything.

I walked out of the apartment complex with Adrian and I walked down the alley way with him still close behind. I checked the alley and saw that no one else was nearby and then stopped in the middle of the area.

I waited until he walked up closer to me and leaned down, quickly pulling the knife from its sheathe inside my boot and slammed him up against the alley wall, my elbow blocking the air from getting to his lungs. I put the knife up to the corner of his eye and could hear our ragged breathing.

Still he didn't lose his smile despite the fact that I knew he couldn't breathe. "Adrian... I will warn you one time and one time only: if you say anything to Dimitri or to Victor, there will be a larger blood bath than anything the organizations have ever seen." I stopped and let that sink in before adding the important part. I pulled my arm away so he could breathe but close enough that I could quickly crush his windpipe if needed. "And Vivienne will be caught in the cross fire."

The smile fell from his face then and there was no denying the fact that he loved his niece. I looked back up in time to see the light go out in Dimitri's apartment.

"Why is Dimitri on Robert's fucking list?" Adrian growled and I looked down so he couldn't see my face.

"I don't know." I answered simply and after deciding that he wasn't going to hurt me, I moved away from him completely and slipped the sheathe back in my boot.

He moved away from the alley wall and crossed his arms. "Vivienne doesn't have a legal guardian. She'll be put in the system and I can't take her. You know the reasons."

"Then convince Dimitri to find her a legal guardian." I walked off on that note and hoped desperately that Adrian would take to my warning and my words.

I made my way home to my own apartment and was grateful to see that the lights were off. Lissa was off on an assignment and I knew that if I listened carefully, I could hear the sound of a silenced gunshot somewhere from the city.

I ignored my instinct to listen and walked into the apartment. I locked the door and walked straight to the room I slept in and crawled into bed for much needed sleep.

**Что ты сделал?****-What did you do? **

*****Well that's the next chapter everyone. I hope you're all enjoying the story and I love hearing from all of you. **


	17. Chapter 17

I walked with Dimitri and Vivienne down the street to the local diner the next morning for breakfast with a feeling of disorientation. Adrian and Dimitri were cousins and I now had someone that could help me get what I needed for Vivienne to have a stable home and for me to do my assignment.

I had been pacing back and forth over asking Adrian about how they decided who to kill and what were the usual reasons behind it but I knew that once the truth came out, I wouldn't be able to hide the fact that I knew from Robert.

He would find out and I'd be executed and Vivienne would be without a father, or what I was trying to avoid, wouldn't be alive anymore. I stayed close by Vivienne in case something went wrong.

We walked until we met up with the black haired woman that I'd met the night I'd met Vivienne. I couldn't remember her name but the impression she made would remain with me. She was wearing an extremely short black skirt and a blue button down shirt. Beside her stood Christian, who was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

I walked a little further and saw Lissa making her way down the street. I felt a nervous air form around me. She raised an eyebrow at me but made her way over to us with ease. This was going to be one hell of a run in already.

"Hey, Rose. I didn't know you were going out today." She gave me a smile and a hug before looking to Dimitri. The exchange was awkward for me but I managed to return the hug before anyone else noticed. "You must be Dimitri."

She held out a hand to him and offered a very coy smile. I didn't miss Christian looking in her direction or Tasha's glare towards me. The attention wasn't on her at the moment but on the unexpected blonde.

"It's nice to meet you as well. You must be Rose's roommate." Dimitri said and shook her hand once before grabbing Vivienne's hand.

"Yes, I am." She turned to Christian and offered a flirty smile. _What the fuck are you doing? _If she could have read my mind, I knew that that is exactly what she would have heard but never the less she continued to smile. "Hi. I'm Lissa."

"Christian Ozera." He held out a hand and without a second thought she took it. Tasha held out her hand and smiled almost rudely.

"I'm his Aunt Tasha." I had to stop myself from laughing out loud at the look Lissa gave her. It was Lissa's _I already don't like you _look.

She faked a smile none the less. "It's nice to meet you too." She then looked to me and smiled. "My cousin called and told me to come find you."

I felt my heart drop to my feet and nodded once before turning to Dimitri. "I have to go but I'll be back in time to watch Vivienne. Should I expect a visit from your cousin?"

"No, he's working tonight." I nodded and Vivienne raced over and hugged me around my waist.

Dimitri smiled as I leaned down and hugged her back. I wanted the hug to not last long but I knew the fact that I had embraced Vivienne at all would make Lissa worry. I decided to make it last as long as I could because in truth, I didn't know if I would be back in time to see her.

If Robert wanted me and urgently, it was more than likely for nothing good. I turned to Lissa and took a deep breath before nodding.

She turned to Christian and smiled sweetly. "It was nice meeting you." She nodded politely to Tasha.

"It was nice meeting you too." Christian said and grinned at her.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Christian. "See you later."

I ignored Tasha completely and watched as Lissa tried not to giggle as we walked away from our group and we quickly cut down an alley way.

"That was more rude than normal, Rose." She smiled regardless and I shrugged.

I didn't really see the point in being polite to someone who didn't like me and someone I obviously didn't like. I didn't see the point in wasting time with fake pleasantries.

"What does Robert want?" I asked and all the teasing fell from her face.

She stared straight ahead and I took this as an obvious answer of "You'll have to find out when we get there" and I always hated these answers.

Twenty minutes later I stood in Robert's office alone besides him. I kept my eyes on him and made sure to keep my face blank as he pulled the knife from his drawer. He ran it across his own finger tips before walking over to me.

"Rosemarie, explain to me why Dimitri Belikov isn't dead and don't tell me it's because of his little brat." He growled and I bit my lip to keep from arguing.

I thought of my answer but instead answered impulsively, the way I knew he preferred. "You said I had time to find her a guardian and I have been unsuccessful so far. I'm working on finding her one and I believe I'm close."

It wasn't entirely a lie and I had questions of my own. "What happened to Noleen?" I asked and he stopped walking.

"Noleen Belikova died in a car accident. That is all you need to know." He said and continued pacing around his office. I wasn't sure if it was being brave or being stupid but my irritation managed to fuck me over yet again.

"You've given me permission to slaughter your brother mercilessly but won't answer me the simple question of what happened to one meaningless man's wife?" I asked and he stopped walking and his hand closed around the knife's blade.

He walked in front of me and didn't hide the curiosity in his blood thirsty eyes. "Are you questioning me?"

"Yes, I am." I said and knew for a fact that my voice held the truth of the fact that I wasn't afraid.

He smiled and walked to his desk. "She was a threat, as is he. Dimitri Belikov's father is a leader of a rival organization. He may not have cared much for his children but his daughter-in-law was different. She would stop at nothing to protect her child and threatened to expose the organization in Siberia but escaped here before she could be stopped."

"So he called in a favor." I stated and I knew without a doubt that Noleen Belikov hadn't been killed in an accident but it would never be proven otherwise.

He smiled cruelly then. "Do you know why I'm telling you this, Rosemarie?" I stared at him warily and knew that he would continue whether or not I answered. "It's because I want you to understand that if you slip up and try to save Mr. Belikov, I'll kill him slowly and painfully in front of his baby girl or vice versa. They will both die, but not before finding out the truth about you."

I could see the image all too well and refused to show any of the fear I felt. I nodded and began to walk out of the room when I was stopped by Robert's laugh. I turned and faced him to see a smile on his face.

"I'll tell you what, little girl. Kill Dimitri and after you've killed Victor, I'll be sure that you are never bothered by the organization again and you can raise the little brat yourself." I couldn't believe my ears as he said this but I knew without a doubt that he was serious.

This was what would have to happen and I wasn't about to argue with my chance to save Vivienne. I'd kill Robert after he formally renounced me from the organization and would raise Vivienne somewhere safe. This was what she needed.

I nodded and kept my eyes to the floor as a sign of respect. "Thank you, Robert."

He waved me off and I looked straight ahead as I walked out. "Now, go babysit your brat." He called behind me and this was also his way of letting me know that he was and would be watching.

Closely.

*****Hey guys. Hope you are all still enjoying the story and as always R&amp;R and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading. **


	18. Chapter 18

I was making my way down to Dimitri and Vivienne's apartment after my meeting with Robert. I was going to be late and I knew Dimitri would probably be pissed off but I wasn't concerned about. I had the chance to be Vivienne's permanent guardian and now my hands were tied.

I had to get Dimitri to trust me enough to get it in his will that I would be the one to take care of his daughter. I would have to kill Dimitri, Victor, and then Robert after he made the statement that I would not be in the agencies books anymore.

It would be better sweet because though I'd see Vivienne, I'd never see Lissa or Mason again but it was something I'd have to live with. It would be hard to do but I would know that it was for the best.

A sound pulled me from my thoughts as I walked down the alley and I saw a familiar pair of blue eyes watching me. Lucas was one of Victor's best assassins and I knew that he was here for a reason. This wasn't an unlucky encounter and I wasn't stupid enough to believe that it could be.

I was less than four blocks from Dimitri and Vivienne's apartment and I wouldn't have a doubt that he knew about my assignment from Adrian. I put my hand on my gun but didn't pull it from my pocket yet. I was about to be extremely late for my new job.

He made his way to the middle of the alley and smiled at me. "How's your assignment's brat?"

I kept my expression completely neutral and the cool metal of my gun helped me keep my focus. I knew for a fact that he had a bullet proof vest on. Victor's assassins always did out of fear of getting shot.

We'd learned that stealth was everything and a bullet proof vest caused more issues that safety. The main concern now was the fact that I would have to shoot him in the head because a shot anywhere else would cause him to scream, which would cause attention.

That was something I didn't need. I couldn't afford to have any civilians or another assassin hear what was going on. He ran at me then and I put my gun up and didn't aim before shooting.

This wound up being a mistake as it hit the wall and he crashed into me, making both of us fall to the alley ground. My gun fell from my hand and I would have cussed had my mind not been occupied. I punched his wrist, which caused his own gun to fall from his hand and I looked around for the closest weapon.

I kicked him off of me and he immediately ran for his gun. I didn't see mine anywhere but saw a metal pipe beside the dumpster. I hid behind the dumpster and he shot at it, hoping the bullet would go through and hit me.

He had no such luck but I watched as the bullet passed in front of my eyes. I knew the gun he had had only two bullets in it, which meant he had one left. Being the person he was he would wait until he had a perfect shot at me, which meant he would be coming around to my side quickly. I listened to his footsteps and kept the pipe ready to swing and hoped he hadn't seen me grab it. I heard the gun cock and he laughed into the night.

"Who would have thought that I'd be the one to take down the famous Rose Hathaway? Looks like you won't get the chance to avenge your daddy after all." I fought the urge to react then, knowing that I would fuck myself over if I did. He wasn't close enough for me to attack, not yet.

His footsteps were right at my ear and the moment I saw his shoe, I slung the pipe and hit him right across his cheek bone. I kicked the gun out of his hand and pushed the pipe into his chest. He gasped in surprise and fell to the ground, his hand going to the pipe in his chest.

I pushed down harder and watched his bright blue eyes fade as his took his final breath. I moved away from the pipe and stared down at my clothes and saw that no blood was on them. I pulled out my cellphone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" She picked up immediately and I leaned against the alley.

I looked at the body on the ground. "Mia, I need a favor. One of Victor's agents attacked me and I need the body cleaned up but I don't need Robert to know."

She giggled on the other end of the phone and I rolled my eyes. "Cleaning and secrecy are my specialties, Rose."

I hung up after giving her the directions to the alley and very calmly made my way out of the alley and to Dimitri's apartment. I saw him sitting by the window with his phone pressed to his ear and not a moment later my phone rang.

"Hey." I said into the phone and made my way up the stairs quietly.

"Hey, can you still make it or did something come up? Do you need me to call Tasha?" he asked and I laughed at the fact that he sounded reluctant to say the last part.

I made my way down the hallway to his apartment door and gave a smirk. "How about you come answer the door?"

I hung up the phone then and the door opened to reveal a 6'7 Russian and his baby girl. "I was beginning to worry."

I laughed and he moved aside to let me into the apartment. Vivienne reached up and I immediately bent down to hug her. I hated to admit it, but I was starting to enjoy her hugs.

"Hey, beautiful." I told her and then looked back up at him. "Worried you were going to have to make a last minute baby sitter happen?"

He laughed and so did Vivienne. She looked up at me and then to Dimitri. "I'd rather go with daddy than with her."

_Funny, I would too _was the first that came to mind. I looked up to him and he arched an eyebrow at me. I was trained to kill without mercy but couldn't arch a single eyebrow. That was annoying.

"I just know how you like to go through the back alleys and I was worried something might have happened." I heard actual concern in his voice and was surprised to hear it.

I hadn't had anyone genuinely worry about me besides Lissa in a very long time. Lissa's mother and father cared about me but as another agent. They'd taken over training me after my father had passed but it wasn't quite the same.

"You don't have to worry about me." I told him and he smiled softly.

"You're supposed to worry about the people you care about." He said and I felt myself smile for the first time in years. I felt shock fill me at the small reaction but watched as Dimitri stared down at me and saw that there was something in his eyes that wasn't something I'd ever seen before but couldn't quite name it.

I stood up and Vivienne grabbed my hand before I looked to Dimitri. "Well, thank you."

He nodded and said "Don't hesitate to call me if you need me to come get you. For anything, not just for when I need you to watch her."

I nodded and he leaned down and hugged Vivienne before grabbing his coat. He slid on his duster and with a quick goodnight, he walked out the door. I locked the door behind him out of necessity.

I looked at Vivienne, who was yawning already. "Are you ready to go to bed?"

She nodded and led me to her bedroom. I saw pictures of her mom and dad all over her room along with several drawings she'd done herself. She crawled into her bed and I draped the blanket over her and tucked her in.

"Will you stay in here tonight?" She asked and I didn't truly want to tell her know so I sat down at the desk in her room.

"Of course I will. Good night, Vivienne." She rolled over and returned the saying, cuddling into her pillow and falling asleep with a smile on her face.

I laid my head down on her desk and found myself falling asleep, knowing perfectly well that I was exhausted from what happened in the alley way.

*****Another chapter! I wanted to tell everyone thank you so much for the reviews! They make me smile every time I read them. So R&amp;R and have a great day. **


	19. Chapter 19

I woke up some time in the middle of the night to hear soft cries and I picked my head up off the desk to see Vivienne crying in her sleep. I stood from the desk and walked over to her bed and could hear her mumbling something softly.

"Mommy." She said and I felt a wave a guilt wash over me. I nudged her shoulder gently and she jumped up, surprisingly alert for someone who wasn't a trained assassin.

She looked at me for a split second and began to cry again, burying her face in her hands. I immediately wrapped my arms around her, wanting nothing more than to comfort her. Something I never thought I would have done in my life.

I was comforting my assignment's kid though I guess that was no crazier than babysitting for him. I rubbed her back soothingly, as I'd seen Rhea do to Lissa before, and I held her until I heard her breathing returned to normal.

I laid her head gently on the pillow and walked into the living room in time to see Dimitri walk in. It was five in the morning which meant Vivienne would have school soon but I wasn't about to wake her up again.

"Hey." I told him as I walked into the living room. He hung his duster up on a hook after setting the history book and notebook on the table. "Do me a favor? Not trying to tell you how to be a parent but you might want to take a day off from work and spend time with Vivienne. You both could use it."

He looked at me stunned and raised an eyebrow at me. "I can't really do that. I have to pay you for babysitting somehow."

I shrugged and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. "Don't worry about it." I really didn't need the money and it was kind of wrong to take his money considering the situation.

He sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. "She's dreaming about her mother again."

I heard his voice break a little when he said "mother" and I knew that I should have left but I found myself walking to the couch and sitting next to him. I knew the sound all too well. It was the sound of someone wishing that they could have done more and somehow turning it into their fault.

"There's nothing you could have done." I knew this for a fact but I couldn't tell him that without telling him the whole truth.

He looked up from his hands and into my eyes. I looked into his brown eyes and saw a tear running down his cheek and I felt my heart drop at the sight. I put a hand on his, hoping to give a bit of comfort. I'd seen several of the agents do this after someone lost someone close to them. I had to admit, doing this myself felt strange.

"How can you be so sure of that?" he asked and I shrugged my shoulders. I took a deep breath and then a thought occurred to me.

"When I was about Vivienne's age, my father was shot in front of me by three men. They didn't know I was there but I was hiding under the bed like he had told me to. I wondered for years, what would have happened if I would have been a little braver? What if I'd tried to stop them killing him? The truth is, that if I'd come out from under that bed, they'd have killed me without a second thought."

He looked at me and took a deep breath. "She wasn't supposed to go pick Vivienne up that afternoon. I was sick and she didn't want to wake me up, so she left to get Vivienne. About five minutes before she reached the school, a truck came out of nowhere and hit her side. They said it killed her instantly but when they went to check on the other driver, there wasn't one. The vehicle didn't have any tags and I can't help but wonder if it was intentional. If I would have gotten up that afternoon…"

I didn't want to hear any more of the story so I gently squeezed his hand. "These things happen for a reason, Dimitri. You need to stop focusing on what could have been and focus on raising the beautiful little girl you have. If anything, the accident should have taught you can lose what you value most, so treasure it while you can."

He nodded and I looked at the clock to see that it was time for Vivienne to get up. I saw him turning off his cell and walked into her room to turn off the alarm. I was glad he'd taken my advice and he walked back into the room looking a little more alive than he had.

I stood up from the couch and started to walk out the door when he said "I'm glad she met you. I think we both need you at this point."

I turned to look at him and felt my heart skip a beat at his words. He walked over and opened the door for me before leaning against the wall.

"Is there something on your mind?" I asked and tried to act nonchalant about him staring into my eyes like he was.

I felt like he was searching my soul and felt naked in front of him. "I was wondering if you'd like to spend the day with us actually. Vivienne and I will probably sleep for a little while but I could call you when I wake up. We could stay here and watch movies all day."

I was about to say no when I saw Vivienne come out of her room. Dimitri turned around and picked her up and she immediately wrapped her arms around him. She may have been half asleep but she knew where to find Dimitri.

"Sounds great." I said and was proud to hear that I didn't sound nervous in the least despite what I was feeling on the inside.

He smiled and said "See you in a little while, Roza."

I nodded and walked off as he closed the door. I made it down the stairs before stopping to take a breath and compose myself. I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was just barely coming out. There was one star left and I knew exactly where it was so I turned in the direction.

"What do I do now, dad?" I asked but I knew there wouldn't be an answer.

So I walked to mine and Lissa's apartment until I had to come back here. I ignore the building but felt its presence regardless, a knot forming in my stomach at the reminder of what I was here to do.


	20. Chapter 20

I walked up back up to Dimitri's apartment for the second time that day. This time, I felt a little more vulnerable this time. I was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a blue halter top, and my boots that were the only thing I could think of to tuck my gun into. I knocked on the door and when he opened it, I couldn't help but notice how good he looked.

His hair was pulled back into a short pony tail; he wore a black button down, blue jeans, and a pair of black boots. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who'd dressed nice for dinner. It was a home dinner though, so I didn't really understand why we were both dressed up.

I decided not to over think the situation though and decided to speak my mind. "You look nice."

He smiled and I noticed that the circles under his eyes were gone. He'd caught up on his sleep and looked well rested.

"Thank you. You look lovely." He said and I felt naked suddenly underneath his brown eyes. I nodded and then he moved so I could walk into his apartment.

"I hope you don't mind pasta." He told me as I walked toward the dining table in the kitchen. It had been set with plain white plates and blue plastic glasses.

I laughed then and turned to him "Here I was expecting something along the lines of kasha."

He laughed and walked over towards the counter in the kitchen. "No, Vivienne prefers the American dishes much more than the Russian."

"You've adapted pretty well for someone who was born and raised in Russia up until a few years ago." I said and felt my heart stop as I realized that I'd just stated a fact that he hadn't told me. it was something I'd remembered from his file.

He noticed this and looked at me with an eyebrow arched. "How did you know that?"

"The thickness of your accent." The lie came out smoothly and he looked at me cautiously for a moment.

He removed the pizza from the oven and sat a plate down in front of me. He sat down another plate and looked towards Vivienne's room.

"Viv, Rose is here and so is your dinner." He said loud enough where she could hear but not to the point where he was yelling.

She walked in a minute later and smiled when she saw me. He walked pulled the chair out for her before walking back into the kitchen.

"Daddy." She said and he looked back at her, his attention immediately all hers. She smiled and let out a fake yawn. "I'm sleepy and not very hungry. Is it okay if I go to bed?"

_C'mon kid, don't do this to me. _I thought, panicked at the thought of being alone with him. I kept my expression as relaxed as I could, despite the fear of someone lurking from the building.

"Do you want me to tuck you in?" he asked and I inwardly groaned at his answer.

She shook her head and he leaned down, pulling her into a tight but soft hug before kidding her cheek. "Good night, мой милый ангел."

"Good night, папа." She said and kissed his cheek before running off to her room, closing the door behind her.

He looked to me apologetically before asking "Have you changed your mind?"

_Yes. _"Not if you haven't." I said and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. I did that a lot around him. I hadn't smiled in years but somehow, when I was around Dimitri, it almost seemed like I couldn't help it.

"Of course I haven't." he said and grabbed the glass in front of me. "What would you like to drink?"

I gave him a smirk and asked "What are your views on a social drink?"

He laughed and grabbed two shot glasses from the cabinet. "That one is acceptable and two is too many."

"I've always wanted to meet someone who had similar views to my own." I laughed as he pulled out a bottle of whiskey, filling both shot glasses before putting it up.

He handed me the shot of whiskey and he sat in the seat beside me. I raised my shot glass to his which caused him to laugh lightly before we both took the shot.

The familiar burn in my stomach settled me more than it should have but I wasn't about to be concerned with one shot of whiskey. After finishing our plates of food, we threw them in the sink and walked into the living room. He placed a movie in the DVD player but I'm not sure what the movie was and I had no intention of watching it.

I had fallen asleep at some point during the movie and could see that it was now light outside. I tapped Dimitri on the shoulder, who had also fallen asleep, and pointed to the window. "It's getting light out."

He jumped up and then looked toward a calendar that was hanging by the fridge. He breathed a sigh of relief and said "It's Saturday." He relaxed and walked to the kitchen.

I heard cabinets opening and closing quietly before they started getting a little louder. "Dimitri, is everything okay?"

"I promised Vivienne I'd make her pancakes this morning but don't have the mix. If you don't mind staying with Vivienne, I'll go out and get some. I'll make you breakfast." He gave me a crooked smile and I was about to say something when the sun hit something that caused a light to hit my eyes.

I blinked before looking toward the building and saw an unfamiliar face. An unfamiliar face: with a gun. I had to think quickly but be calm at the same time to get Dimitri out of here. I saw that it wasn't one of our agents but not one of Victor's either.

"Why don't we both go out and get some? Vivienne will be fine here by herself for a few minutes." It was silent in the other room for a moment before Dimitri walked in with his keys in his hand.

He looked towards her room and I saw the nervous look on his face. I smiled reassuringly and he walked into his room to get something. I pulled out my phone that was in my back pocket and texted Lissa.

_**I'm at Dimitri's apartment and there's a building directly next to it. There's someone looking in and it's not a familiar face. **_

I kept my eyes on the person that was studying me with a curious look while I stared at him with a very cold and uncaring glare. My phone buzzed a minute later and I looked down for a split second to see the message.

_**We're coming. **_

No less than a minute later, Lissa and Mason were on top of the building. Mason stood with a gun pointed at the man's head and Lissa grabbed the sniper from the man's hand before her foot connected with his head. He hit the ground before he even knew what had truly happened. Lissa shot me a smile and disappeared just as Dimitri walked back into the room.

"There's a market right across the street from here that I can go and get some pancake mix." Dimitri said and Vivienne ran in the room after him. He picked her up off the ground and kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, daddy." She and I smiled at the look on his face. It was as if someone had seen the world for the first time and everything was perfect… at least for a moment.

I nodded in her direction and she reached out towards me. I hugged her quickly before moving away from them and I pulled out my phone and pretended that someone had messaged me.

"I've got to go but I'll see you Monday." I told them apologetically and walked out the door. I could hear a faint goodbye as I left and as soon as I was downstairs, I pulled out my phone.

"Everything's taken care of. We're interrogating the agent now but he doesn't speak English so great. It sounds a little like… Russian?" she said and I could hear the confusion in her voice.

I walked a little faster and headed in the opposite direction of mine and Lissa's apartment. "Tell Robert I'm coming and I want answers. Also, tell Mia that I need Noleen Belikova's file."

I hung up the phone after saying that and would have to apologize to Lissa later. I had a horrible feeling that the fact that the agent speaking Russian and not being an agent of Victor or Robert's was no coincidence.

**Папа- daddy**

**Мой милый ангел- My sweet angel**

*****Well there's another chapter everyone. I hope you are still enjoying the story and I absolutely love seeing the reviews from all of you. R&amp;R and have a great day. **


	21. Chapter 21

It had been three hours since I'd arrived and despite the broken jaw and blood on the floor the agent hadn't spoken a word. I could see that Lissa was beginning to get as impatient as I was and I knew that Robert would be heading down here soon, so I had to get this agent talking and fast. I looked down at my bloody knuckles and knew that at half of them were broken despite the brass ones I wore to hit the agent.

I don't know what made me decide to do something so against protocol but I slipped the brass knuckles off and handed them to Lissa. I walked over to the agent and leaned down so that I was at his height, seeing as he was chained to a chair. I studied the gash in his eyebrow, his bloody mouth, and his broken jaw, realizing that I'd done more damage than normal.

"I'll bet you have a family." I said and felt a bit of guilt for what I was about to do. The man's expression changed then and his eyes went wide.

He nodded once and I looked to Lissa, my eyes begging her to play along with what I was about to say. She nodded in understanding but I could tell that she would want to discuss this with me later.

"We can make sure that you see your family again if you just answer a few questions for us." Lissa's voice was one of comfort and unfortunately, this made her an amazing liar. There was no way we could guarantee this but none the less, the man's features softened.

He took a deep breath before saying "I was sent here to be sure that Noleen was dead and that Dimitri didn't know about his father's work. He obviously doesn't know anything because he would have packed up and left for Ireland by now. He definitely wouldn't be letting a stranger take care of his precious daughter. I wouldn't."

I kept my face completely calm but on the inside, I was a mess thinking of Vivienne. I wanted that little girl safe despite the cost to me or anyone else. "What goes on between me and that family is none of your fucking concern."

"Assassin's aren't supposed to care; we are supposed to be lethal and uncaring." The man said and looked down at his feet.

I let my voice be gentle this time as I asked "What does Randall Ivashkov have in store for his son and granddaughter?"

The man bit his lip and said "He's going to kill Dimitri and turn his granddaughter into a lethal weapon to let her loose on a rival agency."

I felt anger boil into my blood but saw in the man's eyes that he wasn't lying about this. I heard Lissa gasp and a door slam. I turned and saw Robert walking towards the man in front of me, pulling out his gun.

I stood there in complete silence as the man looked in my direction. "You burn in hell!" he screamed before Robert took his life.

There wasn't even time for me to react before Robert had me pinned to the wall with the gun at my head and his hands wrapped around my throat. "We don't make deals in this agency but it was sweet of you to try to lie to him to get the information. Slip up again and I will personally send Vivienne to Randall before killing you… after you've killed Dimitri in front of her eyes."

He released my throat and walked out of the room, leaving me gasping for air. Lissa looked at me and her jade green eyes were extremely wide. She walked over and hugged me, surprising me after the violent encounter I'd just had.

I wrapped my arms around her in a friendly hug for a second before breaking from the embrace. I made my way to the room where I knew Mia would be. She sat at her desk and was looking through the files before she saw me.

She smiled and handed me the file that we had on Noleen. "Good luck."

"Thanks, Mia." I said and headed back to my apartment.

As soon as I got there, I laid the file on the table in my room and I stripped my jacket off before throwing it on the bed. I heard a knock on the door and groaned as I walked to it, hoping that it wasn't Adrian at the door.

I swung the door open and saw Dimitri in the door way, which immediately caused my mind to go blank.

"Hey." He said and I could see that he was more than a little unsure of what he was doing.

I walked a little closer to him and asked "What are you doing here?" The question held more concern than annoyance, something that was rare for me.

"Your friend called from your phone. I guess you left it with her but she said that I should come by and check on you. She gave me the address and hung up. I peeked around him and saw that Vivienne was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's your daughter?" I asked and he smiled lightly but still managed to give me the "are you crazy" look.

He crossed his arms and stared down at me for a moment before saying "She's with Christian."

"Is Tasha there?" I asked and he shook his head. "Good. Vivienne hates her, for whatever reason. I'm not too fond of her myself though."

He ran his fingers through his hair and said "She's an old friend but I've come to the point where I'm around her as little as possible."

I rolled my eyes before saying "I just don't like her. End of story." I told him and he laughed lightly. "You really came all the way down here just to check on me?"

He nodded before saying "Of course I did."

It was weird, having someone show up to check on me instead of handing me a new assignment or needing a favor. I was about to say something when I saw an all too familiar face in the distance. It was an assassin from Victor's agency, one I didn't know by name but knew by gun. Unfortunately, he wasn't picky about victims but knew who was Robert's assassins and would do anything to cause pain. I would have to get Dimitri in here before the agent noticed him.

I took a huge leap of faith and did the only thing I could think of to get him inside. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. However, I wasn't expecting the reaction I got. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. I closed my eyes for a split second before quickly opening them and keeping an eye on the agent, who was talking to someone across the street.

I pulled him in a little closer until I was able to close the door behind him. I expected Dimitri to pull away at the sound of the door closing but instead he continued to kiss me gently. His lips were soft and… wonderful.

I found myself kissing him back before I knew what was really going on and, for once, closed my eyes and let my guard down. This proved to be a big mistake as he pulled away from me quickly.

"Forgive me, Rose. That was out of line." He said and I found my mind was slightly fuzzy. I couldn't think straight for a minute before my assassin's training kicked in.

I nonchalantly shrugged and said "Forget about it. It's out of our system now. It won't happen again."

He nodded but I didn't miss the slightly stunned look in his eyes, before he looked at the clock. "I've got to get back to Vivienne. Are you sure you're okay?"

I couldn't believe that after what just happened, we could both act so normal. "I'm sure."

"Will you still come by tomorrow? To watch Vivienne?" he asked and I nodded before giving him a confused look.

I crossed my arms and said "Of course I am."

I couldn't help but notice the relieved expression that came across his face before he opened the door and said "I'm glad that one mistake hasn't changed our friendship."

I felt my heart race slightly and saw in his brown eyes that he was testing me in a way. I didn't trust myself to speak so instead I nodded. He walked out the door with a troubled expression on his face but as I looked past him, towards the street, I saw that the other agent was gone.

I shouldn't have cared and I shouldn't have been relieved that Dimitri would be home safe with Vivienne tonight. I should have let him go so I wouldn't have to kill him myself but I didn't. I placed a finger to my lips and felt the lingering feel of his kiss.

What Dimitri had said wasn't true. Our "friendship" had changed and the attraction that I'd been denying since I met him had turned into something else without me noticing. Dimitri wasn't just another assignment anymore. I knew in that moment that our kiss had changed everything and I couldn't deny that I actually felt… something.

I felt something for Dimitri Belikov: my assignment, Vivienne's father, a person who considered me a friend. I would grieve now when he died, regardless if it was by my own doing or someone else.

Either way, there were two things I was absolutely certain of in that moment that wouldn't change: Dimitri was going to die and my emotions had made me completely vulnerable.

I was fucked.

*****Well there's my next update. I hope you all are still enjoying the story. I've been sick lately but wanted to update so I hope this chapter turned out alright. R&amp;R and thank you for reading. **


	22. Chapter 22

I knocked on Dimitri's door the next day and he took longer than normal to answer. I was beginning to get worried when he finally opened the door and I noticed two things: Vivienne asleep on the couch and Dimitri was wearing pajamas.

"You thought I wasn't coming after I told you I would?" I asked and he looked a little embarrassed. "I should be insulted." I couldn't stop the laugh that followed the statement and saw Dimitri's expression relax a little more.

"Would you like to come in?" He asked and moved to the side and I didn't have time to think before I found myself walking into his apartment. That was my first mistake of the night.

"Ms. Rose." Vivienne said and got up from where she was laying on the couch and walked over to me, her arms open wide. I leaned down and scooped her up into a hug and noticed how natural it felt. Mistake number two and, hopefully, there wouldn't be a third.

I looked towards the kitchen where Dimitri had disappeared to and asked "Have you eaten yet?" I could hear his light laughter even though he was in the next room and heard the sound of cabins close just as Vivienne's stomach growled. "I'll take that as a no."

I pulled out my cell phone and wallet before looking to them. "What are you doing?" Dimitri asked and arched an eyebrow at me.

"I'm about to call in dinner. My treat." He was about to say something when I raised my hand. "No arguing. With me, it's pretty pointless."

Vivienne laughed lightly and I took a seat beside her on the small brown sofa. Dimitri sat on the other side of her and she cuddled up to him before looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"Again?" he asked and she laughed before nodding.

I was completely confused and asked "Care to let me in?"

"Do you like Chinese food?" Vivienne asked and I smiled at her. Something I seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

"Sounds perfect. Which restaurant?" I asked and she ran to get the phone book, startling Dimitri a bit.

He looked at me with an almost embarrassed look on his face. "Rose, I can get this." I knew this was about his pride more than anything and how he wanted to prove to me, and himself, that he could still provide a little bit of luxury to his baby girl but I wasn't having it tonight. So, instead I decided to try bargaining.

"I'll get it this time but next time we have dinner is all yours. Sound fair?" I asked and I saw immediately that I made the right choice.

He nodded and relaxed immediately as Vivienne ran in the room with a phonebook in hand, already opened to the right page. She jumped up on the couch and handed me the phone book. I placed our order and they said that it would be delivered in about an hour.

"Viv, will you please go wash up for dinner?" Dimitri asked and she smiled at him before standing up from the couch.

"Daddy." She said and she had his full attention. "Do I have time to shower?"

He smiled, clearly amused with her question. "Of course you do, baby."

She smiled and walked over to kiss him on the cheek before running off to the bathroom to get her shower. I'd learned recently that Vivienne liked to take really long showers and I had at least twenty minutes with Dimitri to kill.

I looked over and saw that he looked slightly stressed out but had a relaxed composure. Had it not been for the worried look in his eyes, I might have never known.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked and slid closer to him.

He took a deep breath before saying "I feel like I'm losing her."

This would have crippled me to the ground had I not been sitting down. I kept my composure calm but I was losing my mind on the inside. Did he know something? Had I truly fucked up this time? What had I done?

"Why" I finally asked and he leaned back into the couch.

He looked down at his feet and said "I don't know. I just feel like she's going to disappear at any moment."

I placed a hand on his that rested on his knee and shook my own worries away. I waited for him to look at me and forced myself to focus on what I wanted to say instead of his warm brown eyes.

"You're not going to lose her. She's going to be fine, so don't worry yourself to death over her." I told him and I wished I could tell him how much I knew this was true.

He smiled and said "Thank you."

"No problem, Comrade." I said and this caught him off guard. He wasn't the only one.

"Comrade?" He asked and I laughed lightly at my own stupidity. He waited a minute before saying "I suppose I've been called worse."

I laughed and said "I don't usually give nicknames, so it's a first for me. Plus, it suits you."

We both laughed then and I felt some of the stress of the day fade away. That is, until he said something else.

"Rose." He started and I looked to him, knowing for a fact that I looked uneasy. "About last night."

I took a deep breath and let the lie slip out calmly. "Relax, nothing's changed between us. Like I said, it's out of our systems and it was just a one-time thing."

"It's all I've been able to think about." He said and I felt my heart drop to my toes and all the air I was about to breathe get stuck in my throat.

I couldn't stop myself from looking at his lips and notice just how much I wanted to kiss him in that moment. I wanted to kiss him.

I didn't have an excuse this time. There was no one that would see him that I had to get him away from, there was no one looking from the shadows to find him, and there was no excuse. It was simply my own selfish desire to feel his lips against mine.

So that's what happened. I ignored the voice screaming at me telling me not to do this and said "Then kiss me."

He didn't seem to need much encouragement because in the next second, his soft lips were pressed to mine. I felt him nip my bottom lip and I immediately parted my lips, allowing his tongue to tangle with my own. Reason disappeared from both of our minds as he put his hand on my cheek and I let one of my hands tangle in his hair.

I heard a soft moan escape my lips as his tongue massaged my own and the taste was purely Dimitri. I wrapped my arms around his neck just as he pulled me closer to him. I was half on the couch and half in his lap at this point but I knew Vivienne would be getting out of the shower soon. I had to break the kiss but I found myself more than a little unwilling to do so.

I pecked his lips lightly as I heard the water turn off and moved to my side of the couch, not really caring that my hair was probably more of a mess than his was. I put a hand to my lips and smiled as the feeling and taste of his lips lingered.

I heard the doorbell ring and opened the door, paid the delivery guy, and grabbed the food. I placed the food in the cardboard boxes on the table in front of the couch and took my original seat beside Vivienne, who was sitting back between me and Dimitri. The rest of the night was spent watching miserably boring John Wayne movies but I didn't complain once as I watched them watch the movie.

Dimitri would catch me watching him every once in a while and would smile lightly before looking down at Vivienne or back at the movie. At some point, I looked down and saw that Dimitri's wedding band was no longer on his finger but was lying on the coffee table. Not on him, but not out of sight.

I realized that I'd kissed him after seeing this. That was my third mistake of the night and you know what they say?

Three strikes and you're out.

*****Hey, look, another update! Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. I was miserably sick and the reviews made me feel a little better. I'm happy to say that I'm doing better now so I will be updating more often. Thank you and don't forget to R&amp;R. Have a great day!**


	23. Chapter 23

I screamed as I woke up from the dream, trying desperately to get the images out of my mind. The ghost of the people I'd killed in the past had plagued my dreams for the last few days since I'd kissed Dimitri in his apartment. The image of his dead body and Vivienne crying proved to be too much for me.

I felt tears running down my face and couldn't help but be thankful that Lissa wasn't here this morning. I ran to the bathroom and got on my knees to throw up in the toilet. I clutched the seat tightly until I was done. I'd never been so afraid or grief stricken in my life.

After I flushed the toilet, I couldn't quite find the strength to get up and sat on the floor, crying and desperately wishing my dad was here. He was the only one that I could talk to about something like this that wouldn't betray me to the agency. I wouldn't endanger Lissa's life by asking her to keep a secret like this but I desperately wished that I could talk to someone.

Instead, I did what I always did. I got up and walked to my room, changed, and walked out to my bike. I rode off to the agency and when I got there I talked to no one as I made my way to the training room. Mia was in there and was short of a training partner.

I slipped on my finger less gloves and gestured with my eyes to the empty mats. She didn't say anything as she walked over there with me. It was one of the good things about Mia. She didn't ask questions and knew when I needed to let off some steam. There was something much more satisfying about fighting a real target rather than hitting a dummy.

She smiled at me, letting me know she was ready, and I lunged forward to punch her in the shoulder. She blocked the move and instead I hit her elbow. She went to knock me on my ass with a quick leg sweep but I jumped and kicked her onto the mat.

She got up and without a second of hesitation, reached forward and hit me in the jaw. I spit a bit of blood out of my mouth and struck her cheek bone. That would be a bruise tomorrow but I didn't stop until I knocked her on her ass again.

She got up for the last time and got a shot in on my hip, which caused me to falter for a second before I reached out and struck her knee. She hit the ground again and laughed.

"One of these days, I'm going to get a point. I've fought stripper club body guards that don't kick my ass as much as you do." She said and I walked forward to help her up off the ground.

She laughed and brushed her butt off before I looked over and saw Mason. "I haven't seen you around here in a while."

I laughed and said "I guess you haven't."

He had a stunned expression on his face and raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked and he had slightly nervous expression on his face as he ran a hand through his red hair.

"You laughed." He said and I averted my eyes immediately.

I heard more laughter and this particular laugh caused us all to lose our playful nature. I looked over and saw Robert walking over to us.

"Of course she's laughing. She is happier." He said with a smile. I felt my heart jump up in my chest and for one second, I was afraid that he knew about mine and Dimitri's kiss. "It's getting closer to the time where she gets to kill the bastard that killed Ibrahim."

I nodded at this and decided to act like this was the reason I was happy. Though, it wasn't far from the truth. "Yes, it is."

"Have you figured out a time to kill your assignment yet?" he asked and I felt my stomach do a backflip.

I nodded and said "Not yet. Dimitri won't be a problem before too much longer though."

He stopped walking then and Mia's eyes went wide at the same time I realized what I'd said. "So he has a name now? Rosemarie, it seems the longer you wait, the more attached you get. Does our deal hold no significance to you?"

"He'll be six feet under before he has time to blink. I'm… waiting till the anniversary of Noleen's death." I felt my stomach drop further and I felt the urge to get sick again.

"That's my girl." He said and walked out, whistling contently as he did so.

I bolted from the room before Mason and Mia could say anything. I raced and realized that I'd made a mistake. I had no idea how far away Noleen's death was.

I jumped on my bike and made my way quickly to my apartment and running up the stairs. Lissa was sitting on the couch and somehow knew to hand me the file that was on the table.

I looked through her file and felt my heart break at the date. It was exactly four months from tomorrow. I didn't have long but I had long enough to hide them. I had to keep them safe. I had to get them the hell out of here.

I wished desperately that I had help from someone of any kind but I was on my own. I sat down on the couch and read the file as Lissa watched a drama that she had been hooked on for a long time now.

I had to somehow figure out how to fake Dimitri's death, kill Victor, and kill Robert. After that, I would be free of the organization and be able to live the rest of my life with Vivienne and Dimitri. The thought of actually wanting to spend the remainder of my life with him made me almost laugh. A few years ago, love had been out of the question for me. For as long as I'd been alive, I had sworn I would never love. I didn't want to love him, I desperately didn't.

Robert was right though: the longer I stayed with Dimitri, the more I cared about him. If I wasn't careful, I was going to fall in love with him. I knew though, that I was close to feeling something for him that I'd never felt in my life and would never feel again.

I had to accept the fact that I could lose him but I would fight like hell to try not to lose him. I remembered something then. My mother, before she had abandoned me and my father, had been very skilled in faking deaths. She'd faked her own to get away from the agency and I knew of a few other people that she had done it for.

She'd been in the shadows this long but all of that was about to change. If I was going to save Dimitri, I was going to need her help. The most difficult step would also be the first.

I had to find her.

*****Well there's another chapter everyone! I haven't been able to read the reviews yet on the last chapter because of the site being down. I appreciate them all the same and can't wait to read them. Please R&amp;R and tell me what you think. Thank you for reading!**


	24. Chapter 24

I could see the sun coming up as I researched my mother's whereabouts with the computer, specially enhanced courtesy of Mia, and her files. All in all, I had almost nothing to go on. I looked through the places mentioned in the files and figured that I would have to wind up going to each place.

I didn't have time for this, so I would have to pick one and hope that she was there after all. I didn't know what my plan for if I actually found her. That was something I'd have to figure out when it became a possibility. I already wasn't looking forward to seeing her again, and the fact that she was my only hope for saving Dimitri and Vivienne made it that much more irritating.

I dropped her file and then remembered that my father had told me once, that he and my mother had met at Council, Colorado and I would bet that she was there now. I wasn't looking forward to this meeting but my choices were pretty damn narrow at this point.

I left from my room and saw Lissa sleeping in hers. I wrote a quick note saying I would be back in a day but didn't say the reason why I was leaving. I grabbed my bike and realized that I had a long drive ahead of me of nearly six hours. I just hoped that my bike would ride that long.

I grabbed my wallet and stuck it in my bra before grabbing the keys to my bike and heading out. I was thankful to see that my glasses and helmet were still on the bike after I'd forgotten about them. I slipped them on, revved the engine, and headed out for Council.

I tried to think of the last memory I had of my mother but found that I didn't really have any. I couldn't say whether or not it was because I'd repressed them or I just didn't have any. Either way, it caused me to decide to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Five and a half hours later I was in the middle of Council, Idaho. I felt something grabbing at my heart and could almost see my dad here in this little town. He'd told me stories about this place and it brought an ache that I would never move passed. This ache made me that much more determined to find my mom.

I pulled the key out of my bike and put my sunglasses in my helmet after I parked the bike near a small café. I walked in and saw that there were very few people in the café so I walked straight up to waitress.

"You must be new. Can I help you with something?" she asked and I couldn't help but notice that she was maybe sixteen. She had long blonde hair and big brown eyes with a kind smile.

"I'm looking for a friend. This was the last place she lived and I was wondering if you might have seen her. Her name is Janine Hathaway." I said and as the girl was about to answer I heard someone clear their throat.

A woman stood up that wearing a scarf over her head and a pair of sunglasses and smiled sweetly. "I can show her where she is. Thank you, Amy."

She didn't give the girl time to answer before she was dragging me off. I couldn't help but feel an off feeling about her. I didn't know who she was but I immediately didn't feel safe. We walked toward an alley way between buildings and the woman put her hand on my back.

I learned a second later that I was right to have a bad feeling about this woman. She snatched the gun from my back jacket pocket and slammed me against the alley wall. Her nails dug into my throat and one of her knees had my thigh pinned. I swung around quickly with my free hand and heard a satisfying crack as I hit her cheek bone.

The glasses and scarf fell off of her to reveal two things: red hair and brown eyes. I laughed at the situation I was in and she looked at me with a pissed off expression.

"That's a fine hello to your daughter, Janine." I said and she backed off but only slightly. "Relax, you're name hasn't come up but don't put it past me not to kill you for the hell of it. After all, you did abandon me."

She moved away then and didn't waste a moment before asking "What do you want, Rose?"

"I need you to fake someone's death for me. I need it done thoroughly though and I can't afford any fuck ups." I said and she didn't so much as blink.

She crossed her arms over her chest and said "Why?"

I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes. "Can you help me or not?"

"I can but I don't see why I should." I growled at the answer and stuffed my hands in my pockets.

"Because I've never asked you for anything in my life and I'm still not. I'm telling you that I need your help. It's for a man and his child. He's my assignment." I was letting her in way more than I wanted but I couldn't waste time with stupid questions.

She raised an eyebrow, surprised. She put a hand on her head and said "Rose, you know what Robert will do to you if he finds out about this."

"You don't have to worry about me anymore, remember? Will you help me or not?" I asked and I realized that I sounded desperate in that moment.

She looked at me with a defeated look and said "No, Rose."

I nodded and grabbed my gun from her hand before making my way back towards my bike. I stuck the key in and put on the helmet and glasses before I saw her standing next to me.

"Rose, why did you come to me for help? I'm a last resort but I won't have anything to do with the organization and you know this. So why go through all the trouble?" she asked and I looked at her, no longer hiding my feelings.

I let the anger show on my face and said "I was hoping to meet the woman my father fell in love with but she's not here anymore."

She opened her mouth to say something but I quickly pressed the gas and headed back to Missoula, leaving her in a cloud of smoke and dust.

I felt tears run down my face and the road started becoming less clear as my bike complained about the asphalt. I felt anger and hopelessness because I knew the truth now. I'd been trying to do something that was impossible.

I'd been trying to save Dimitri and with my mother's help it might have been possible. She'd refused to help me and now I was forced to go with the original plan. I was going to kill him and finish raising Vivienne.

I just hoped she would give me the forgiveness I would never give Victor.

*****Well there's another chapter everyone! I finally got to read the reviews from the last two chapters and I was so happy to read them. Thank you for each and every one of them! As always, it improves my day to hear from everyone. So be sure R&amp;R and thank you for reading!**


	25. Chapter 25

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dimitri asked as he placed the hot chocolate in my hands.

I took it from him, grateful for the kind gesture. "Not entirely sure. I guess I just needed a friend and Lissa was out for some reason. So, I came here. Though, I am sorry I woke you up. I forget that you do night classes so you sleep while Viv is at school."

He sat down next to me and said "Its fine. I'm glad you know you can come and talk to me when something is troubling you. Do you mind me asking what it is that's troubling you?"

I looked down at my hot chocolate and bit my lip. I didn't really want to talk to him about this but I figured out something very quickly. "It's my mom. I… needed her help with something and it turns out that she is still the same person that walked out on me twenty years ago. Well, I guess she is anyway."

"She didn't want to be a parent. She missed out. Believe me when I say I understand what you're feeling." He said and I moved closer to him so that I was resting my head on his shoulder.

"Oh yeah?" I asked and waited to hear what Dimitri knew about his father. I knew he would open up to me about his father if I told him about my mom. It was natural for people like him to try and comfort someone, even if I really didn't need it.

"My three sisters and I all share a father. He and my mother were never actually married due to the Ivashkov family business but he liked her. He beat her for thirteen years of my life in front of me and my sisters. One day, I grew tired of it and hit him back. I was expecting him to leave but then he wanted me in the business, whatever it was. I would only find out if I started working for him. I refused and we've hated each other ever since. He started hanging around Vivienne a lot when she was born but one day, when Noleen was around, he acted almost nervous around her. She told him to never come around us again and after that day she asked me if I wanted to move to America. She'd always had a bit of a fascination for this place but we weren't even through unpacking when she was killed." He stopped for a minute and I moved so that I could look into his deep brown eyes. They showed anger, guilt, and, above all, grief. "Vivienne had just turned four. She'll be six soon and she has the maturity and understanding of a grown woman. She's seen and been through so much in such a short amount of time. I often wonder if she's had her childhood completely stolen from her."

I sat the hot chocolate down on the counter and let his hands rest in mine as I waited for him to look at me. "Dimitri." I finally said, my voice softer than even I had ever heard. "She's been through a lot, yes. She is being raised in love and as long as that continues, she's going to turn out fine. Noleen dying was a tragedy but at least she has you. She loves you. As for the childhood, she wouldn't crawl up in your lap and let you read her stories if she were that mature."

He laughed then and I couldn't help but laugh with him. I felt a bit of relief as I found that Dimitri didn't know anything about his father's business but I knew that Noleen knowing was what got her killed. Dimitri's refusal to join his father's business was what had gotten his name on my assignment list.

He'd had a bad feeling about the business and tried to protect his daughter only to have his own life stolen from him. I felt my heart clench at the realization that if this turned out badly, Vivienne would immediately go to Randall. She'd be raised the rest of her life to be cruel and uncaring, something that wasn't easily changed.

I looked at him now and could see all too clearly how my life was going to fall apart when he found out the truth. I knew one thing for sure though. I had to find out who killed Noleen. I had to find out who'd been driving the car that hit her. I wasn't about to waste time with this either.

I stood up and grabbed the keys to my bike before turning to Dimitri. "I guess I'd better let you get back to sleep. Thanks for the talk."

"I think we both needed it." He said and stood up to walk me to the door of his apartment.

I put my hand on the doorknob but not before he put his hand on my arm. "Roza." He said, a question in his eyes.

He lifted his hand to my cheek and placed his free hand on my other before leaning down and letting his lips brush over mine. I felt my heart take off in that moment and the world felt almost right. I let go of the doorknob and let my hands wrap around his neck as his dropped to my waist, pulling me closer to him as he did so.

He deepened the kiss and I enjoyed the taste of his mouth against mine. It was something I would remember for the rest of my life but I knew it couldn't last forever. Regardless of this fact, I let him press me between him and the door as he continued to kiss me.

I broke the kiss as my phone buzzed and I pulled it from my pocket to see that it was a message from Lissa. I placed a quick kiss on his lips before saying "Lissa's home now."

He nodded and I left then without a goodbye. I made my way down to my bike and hopped in before making the drive out to the old abandon prison. I needed to talk to Mia. If anyone would know about the person who killed Noleen, it would be her. My only other option was Robert and that damn sure wasn't going to happen.

I walked directly to her area as I came in and saw that the area was almost completely empty. Her blonde ringlets were hanging around her face as usual and she smiled when she saw me, her bright blue eyes light with happiness. It was these qualities that made her so lethal. Like Lissa, she looked like a damsel in distress.

"Mia. I need a favor." I told her and she flipped her hair in a playful bitch manner.

"What can I do for you, my sweet?" she asked and I couldn't but laugh at the sugary tone she used.

I sat down in the chair beside her and said "I need to know who killed Noleen Belikova."

Her face fell then and I felt knots form in my stomach. The look she had was as if she'd been slapped or cursed at for everything she was worth. I felt guilty because of this but now that I knew that she knew, I couldn't let it go.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask me that." she said softly and buried her face in her hands. "No one is supposed to know."

"Mia." I tried to give her a bit of comfort by keeping my voice calm and enduring despite the urgency I now felt. "Who was it?"

Tears slowly began to slide down her face and she said "You know the person pretty well. At least, you did."

I waited for a moment before asking "Who was it?"

"Andre."

*****So the truth is coming out everyone! You heard it! Andre killed Noleen! How is Rose going to feel about this. Why don't Lissa and her family know? R&amp;R and thank you for reading! Have a great day!**


	26. Chapter 26

"Andre? As in Andre Dragomir?" I asked and honestly just needed confirmation on this subject. Andre had been shot on a different mission, that's what Lissa's family had been told. If Robert was willing to lie about this, what else had he lied about?

Mia wiped the tears from her face and said "Yes. He'd found out that Noleen wasn't actually a threat to the organization and that Randall had simply paid off Robert. So he told Robert that it was wrong to kill her when she wasn't a threat but agreed to it. Robert told him to keep the assignment secret but at the time, we were involved so he told me. Andre hurt his leg during the accident but got away before anyone noticed and the second he was alone, Robert shot him."

"Mia, how do you know this?" I asked and I didn't want to believe the answer I knew she was going to say.

She dropped her head and said "Because Robert told me. He also told me that if I told anyone about this, he'd tell the Dragomir's that I was the one that killed Andre. I'd have been executed and they'd never hear the truth." She looked up at me panicked then and grabbed my hand. "Rose, you can't say anything to anyone. This has to stay between us."

I nodded and couldn't help but notice how desperate she sounded. Not because of her own life but because Lissa's family needed to be able to hear the truth from her. I heard footsteps and looked to her.

"We'll talk more about this later." I told her and didn't for an answer before I walked off. As soon as I was out of the prison, I jumped on my motorcycle and drove home.

I couldn't believe that Lissa's brother had been the one to kill Noleen but I couldn't believe that he'd told Robert that killing her would be wrong even more. It was dangerous to argue with anyone about an assignment, let alone Robert.

The real question was: why did Robert lie about Andre's death? Usually, if someone was killed it was broadcasted everywhere and the reason was always explained thoroughly. Why lie now?

I drove up to our apartment and saw Lissa was home. I walked up the steps and came inside to see her putting in a pair of white-gold hoops that definitely looked expensive. She wore a mint green dress that came down to her knees and a pair of white heels to accent the earrings. Her hair was perfectly styled and she wore makeup that made her jade green eyes appear more alluring than they already were.

"Do you have a date?" I asked, knowing that it was a ridiculous question.

That's probably why I almost had a heart attack when she gave me her answer. "No, we do. Your dress is in your room."

"Lissa." I started and waited until she looked at me, an amused look in her eyes. "Have you lost your fucking mind?"

She didn't as much as flinch at my tone. "No, I want to know why Dimitri means so much to you but I'd also like to know a bit more about his friend. Christian, was it? Anyway, we have a date tonight that they don't know about just yet."

"You've definitely gone crazy. What do you mean?" I asked and she laughed.

She ran her fingers through her hair a few times before saying "I found out from Aaron that they called in for reservations at a nice restaurant tonight. We're going to walk in at about the same time they have just sat down and they will ask us to join them."

"Liss, I'm not so sure about that. He's really not that interesting anyway." I told her and crossed my arms over my chest.

She gave me a teasing look before scaring the hell out of me even more. "I am. If you're willing to kiss him to get him out of another assassin's eye sight, then I can almost guarantee he's more fascinating than you are letting on."

I couldn't say anything but instead simply stood there. Her jade green eyes were afraid for me and after I found out about what had happened to her brother today, I couldn't help but want her away from Dimitri.

Not because I thought she would hurt him, but because I didn't want her being around Dimitri to be the thing that got her killed.

"You saw that kiss?" I finally asked and she nodded.

She walked over and put her arms around me. I returned the hug with less awkwardness than ever before. "Rose, I'm going to tell you something and please don't get mad."

"Okay." I said but desperately wished I wouldn't have. She moved away from the hug before looking into my eyes.

"If you're actually falling for him, then please be careful. Enjoy it while it lasts before you have to kill him. You're going to lose him and it's okay to make a few mistakes. You don't have to be the perfect assassin. Just don't let Robert know." She said and I covered my emotions easily after all the time I'd let them just down.

"I'm not falling for him. I just don't want someone else getting my kill." I told her and smirked as I said. She laughed and pointed to my room.

"You better go get dressed. Don't want to be late." She said and I walked into my room to see a short, dark red dress with sleeves that would come about to my elbow.

I took a deep breath and changed out of my clothes and into the dress. I slipped on my black heels and let my hair fall around my shoulder. I put my make up on nervously and thought about what Lissa said about making mistakes.

She was right. I was going to lose Dimitri. I had to be the one to kill him regardless of what I wanted. I wouldn't let Robert torture him and now that my mom had refused to help, I had no choice but to kill him. I felt tears sting my eyes but ignored this as I fixed my hair.

I had about twenty minutes before Lissa and I would leave to meet Christian and Dimitri. This made me wonder who had Vivienne and how capable they were to take care of her. If anything happened to my girl, I would be sure to kill whoever hurt her.

I was going to fight like hell and I would be the one to raise her for the remainder of her life… if she didn't kill me after I murdered Dimitri. My heart swelled at the thought of his name and I looked at myself in the mirror.

Anger filled my blood as I thought of the situation I was in. I knew the truth about my best friend's brother, my father was murdered, my mom was an unfeeling bitch, I was tearing a little girls life apart the same way mine had been torn apart, and I was forced to kill the man I loved.

I felt my fist clench and slammed it against the mirror, shattering the glass in the process and let the tears fall down my face as the blood spilled from my hands.

*****Well there is another chapter. I hope you guys are still enjoying the story. R&amp;R and let me know what you think. Have a great day!**


	27. Chapter 27

As we walked into the nice restaurant where we were meeting Dimitri and Christian, I couldn't help but feel my stomach clench in knots. It wasn't about me seeing Dimitri but it would be the first time we'd been around Christian and Lissa since we'd kissed.

I looked at my hands in the black fingerless gloves I wore and was thankful that I'd bought them. They had been a spur of the moment decision I'd made two years ago and I'd decided to take them with me when Lissa and I had moved into the apartment.

We walked in and saw the two men sitting at a booth to themselves and we walked by them, acting as if we hadn't noticed them there.

"I hope we can find a seat." Lissa said and I couldn't do anything but nod as I felt discomfort go through my body.

"Rose." I heard him call softly, his Russian accent clear as a bell in his tone. I turned around and couldn't help the smile on my face as I saw him. His brown hair was pulled back into a short pony tail that showed off his face and his brown eyes no longer had dark circles under them. He wore his usual jeans and wore a black t-shirt along with his worn out black boots.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything but Lissa simply walked over and smiled. "Ms. Dragomir." Dimitri politely addressed and she smiled.

"Call me Lissa." She held out a hand and shook his before looking over at Christian. "It's Christian, right?"

He nodded before saying "Last I checked."

This caused her to laugh and he smiled at the sound. I looked from the two men and wished that I wasn't here at this moment. I wanted to be almost anywhere else but that wasn't the case.

"Would you like to join us?" Dimitri asked and I noticed that he was looking at me when he did. I nodded before sliding into the booth next to him.

Lissa took this as her cue to slide in next to Christian and said "I hope you don't mind the company."

He laughed before saying "It's a pleasant change from my aunt and Dimitri."

I felt a smile pull at my lips as they casually conversed while I turned to Dimitri. The waiter came over and after we ordered our drinks, I felt more nervous than I had before we'd gotten here.

"Where's Vivienne?" I asked finally and he took a sip of his coffee before he answered.

"She's with Adrienne and Sydney." He said and I gave him a confused look. "Sydney is his wife."

I nodded before feeling anger rush through my veins. Victor's assassins were allowed to marry whoever they wanted, regardless of if they knew about the organization or not. Their targets could be changed while ours were permanent. The main difference between the two organizations was that they killed for money, whereas we killed for safety.

We sat and talked about the most meaningless things through the door and it was nice to be able to just relax and laugh with them. I couldn't help but look up at Dimitri as he laughed at the nonsense being thrown around the table.

About thirty minutes later, the waiter came with the bill and all four of us pulled out our wallets. Lissa and I both had bought purses before coming here and they contained only two things: our wallets and our guns. We had been trained that your gun is your life saver and to always keep it close. The one time I hadn't had my gun, I'd have been killed if Lissa wouldn't have showed up when she did.

"Let us get this." Dimitri said and Christian nodded in agreement.

Lissa's jade green eyes went wide but she covered it quickly. "We intruded on your dinner and it's only fair for us to pay for our half."

"It's not the polite thing to do. That and I rather enjoyed your company." Christian gave her a sly smile and she dropped her wallet back into her purse.

I wasn't going to be as easy to convince on this and I looked at Dimitri. "You pay me to babysit Vivienne, something I'd gladly do for free. There is no need for you to buy me dinner too."

"Call it a date." He said as he handed the waiter a few bills from his wallet. I blushed then and saw Lissa smiling. It wasn't exactly a happy smile though. I could see the tints of sadness in her eyes and I knew that she knew he meant something to me. She may not have known what but she knew that I cared about him. Something I hadn't done in a long time.

We stood up and walked out of the restaurant together, making our way towards the parking lot. Christian stopped and gave Lissa a flirtatious smile as she looked back at him.

"Would you like a ride home?" He asked and she nodded.

I wasn't sure about this but before I could say anything she spoke. "Rose, didn't you and Dimitri have something you wanted to talk about a bit more privately?"

I felt my stomach flip as she said this but I went along with it. "I did actually."

"We can talk at my apartment." He said politely and completely oblivious to what was going on.

Lissa walked over and hugged me before saying "It's okay. You don't have to be perfect."

I hugged her back and realized that she really did know what was going on between us. Not only did she know, but she was encouraging me. This wasn't going to be something permanent but it would stay between me and Lissa. It seemed like I was getting wrapped up in a lot of secrets lately and wished that I hadn't promised Mia that I wouldn't say anything to her.

Lissa and her family deserved to know the truth and I wanted nothing more than to tell her but I couldn't. I was learning that I was good about keeping secrets but promises were another story. I'd promised myself and Robert that I would kill Dimitri soon. I'd promised that I'd never fall in love. I'd promised that I'd do anything to kill Victor. I'd been lying to myself.

I broke away from the hug and looked back to Dimitri. "Ready?"

He nodded and we made our way back to his car. We drove to his apartment in pure silence and I had a million thoughts racing through my mind but I decided to just let my mind be blank for the night. It was just the two of us tonight. I owed him that much.

We walked into his apartment not long after that and I looked around to see that the place had been neatened up quite a bit. "Where's Vivienne?"

"She's staying with Adrian and Sydney for the night. What did you need to talk to me about?" he asked before locking the door behind him.

I thought for a moment before I made my next move but shook my worries from my mind. Instead, I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck as he leaned down to place his lips on mine.

I would have to face the consequences of my actions later but tonight was ours. It was me and him and nothing else mattered.

*****So there's the next chapter. I wanted to give a big thank you for the reviews on the last chapter and I am always so glad to hear from all of you. As always, R&amp;R and tell me what you think. Have a great day!**


	28. Chapter 28

The moment our lips met, I felt all of my worries slip away. I felt safe and like nothing could touch me in that moment except him. There was no organization, there was no assignment, and there was nothing but me and him in the world.

I felt him pull me closer against him and felt his tongue sweep across my parted lips before he let his tongue invade my mouth. I never would have imagined I'd let someone get so close as to have this much control over me but at that moment, I didn't care.

He lifted me up off of the floor and I immediately wrapped my legs around his waist. I leaned down and kissed his neck as we made our way to the bedroom and I couldn't help but enjoy the close proximity of our bodies, the feeling of his warm body against my own.

He gently laid me down on the bed before going for the zipper on the dress and kissing my neck. I tangled my hands in his hair again, pulling him closer to my neck. He moved his hands from my dress before slipping his hand under my dress and rubbing my wet center through my underwear.

I gasped at the feeling and arched into my hips up into his hand, eager to feel more of his touch. He laughed lightly and gestured for me to raise my hips so he could pull the dress off of me. Somehow, he managed to take move his fingers into the waistband of my underwear as he pulled the dress down. I was now completely naked in front of him, except for the fingerless gloves I wore.

I looked down at my hands before gently sliding them off. They were bloodstained and dry blood was smeared all over my hand that had hit the mirror. He gently took my injured hand in his and looked at it once before cursing in Russian.

He walked to the bathroom before coming back into the room with alcohol swabs and bandages. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the sheer irony at the situation. Dimitri was here now bandaging my wounds when I had to… no. Not tonight.

I let him bandage my hands in silence before asking "Isn't it a little weird to be bandaging my hands when I'm naked?"

"No, I'm planning on taking care of you tonight." He finished bandaging my hand before kissing my neck again. "In every way possible."

I felt his fingers slide into my wet center as his mouth moved to my left nipple and he began softly licking it. I moaned and arched against his mouth, my hand long forgotten as I felt pleasure for the first time in my life.

I felt his fingers begin to slide in and out of my wet center with ease and closed my eyes as I let the pleasure take over. The combination of him sucking my nipple and his fingers gliding in and out of me pushed me to the brink and I moaned quietly as I reached my peak.

I struggled to catch my breath as I saw him lick his fingers clean before smiling up at me. "You taste as good as you look, Roza."

I would have had some smart ass comeback had I been able to think. I lay back on the bed and watched as he undressed, taking in every detail of his beautiful body. I reminded myself to make time to kiss and touch every single plain of his body so that I would remember him in perfect detail.

As he stood in front of me fully bare, I felt my legs close a little in fear as I looked at his rather large member. I had heard Lissa talk about how losing your virginity hurt but I didn't pay attention to how much it would hurt. I never had time for romantic interludes so sex was definitely out of the question.

I had never expected to be lying on a bed with an absolutely amazing man looking at me with all the compassion in the world in his eyes. I took a deep breath before letting my legs slowly drape open.

"Dimitri." I said as he moved over me, supporting his weight on his arms so he wouldn't hurt me.

"What is it, Roza?" He asked and I noticed that his Russian accent was thicker than normal. Worry was in his eyes and I knew that he was thinking that I had changed my mind.

I took a deep breath before saying "You're the only one."

I noticed that it didn't take more than a moment for him to understand before a wonderful smile spread across his features. "Then I'll be sure that this is something worth remembering."

As soon as this is said he kisses me again, softly this time before hitching my leg over his hip. He kept his eyes on mine before I felt the tip of his erection nudge at my entrance. In one quick thrust, he broke the barrier marking me as a virgin and I couldn't help but gasp at the slight stinging pain.

He began whispering Russian in my ear as a comforting note as I waited for the pain to pass. As soon as it did, I kissed him. No longer gently this time but instead I tangled my hands in his hair and let my tongue seek out his to revel in the taste of his mouth.

He gently pulled out almost all the way before going all the way in to the hilt and I couldn't help but notice how complete I felt. It had been like until that moment, something had been missing from my life. Now he was here with me and everything was right.

He began a slow pace of thrusting and out of my body and I felt the pleasure begin to form a knot in my stomach. I moaned and threw my head back as I felt him hit a hidden spot in my body before he began kissing my neck. One of his hands moved to my left breast and he gently rubbed his thumb over my nipple.

I dug my nails into his back and he moaned, quickening his pace. I pulled him to me so that I could kiss him again and wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled me up into his lap as he leaned back on his knees and once I wrapped my legs around his waist, he began thrusting into me at a quick pace, hitting that spot ever time.

I felt the knot in my stomach tighten and I felt my nails run up his back, knowing he would have marks tomorrow. I felt him nip at my neck and I wasn't as concerned about it anymore. He put his hands on my lower back and began quickening his pace.

I felt the knot in my stomach release and closed my eyes as the pleasure crashed through my body like waves on the ocean as I pulled him closer to me. We fell back onto the bed and he continued to thrust into me roughly.

"Roza." He moaned and his accent was thicker than I'd ever heard it. He held me close to him as he released inside of me and I gently ran my fingers through his hair as we both came back down to earth.

He gently moved off of me and pulled me close to him, allowing my head to rest on his chest. I took time to listen to the fast beat of his heart and heard him laugh softly. I looked up worried then before he leaned forward and kissed me gently.

"That was…" I started and couldn't help but notice the dreamy tone in my voice.

He moved his arms around me before saying "Perfect."

I smiled before nestling into his chest and kissing his neck. "That's definitely a word for it."

I yawned and laid back down on his chest, his light laughter and heartbeat the last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep.

*****Well… I'd say it's about time they got together. If only their story was as simple to end here on a happy note. Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. I appreciate them so much and I appreciate the honesty. Now that their relationship has been established things are going to get more and more interesting. R&amp;R and let me know what you all think.**


	29. Chapter 29

The sun poured in from the window the next morning and I blinked a few times before focusing my eyes. I took the time to process the fact that I was naked in Dimitri's apartment and covered only by his black and blue striped blanket. I could smell something cooking in the kitchen and I felt a slight twinge of pain between my legs.

This light pain was one of the many things to contribute that mine and Dimitri's night together hadn't been a dream. I wasn't a virgin anymore and I'd lost such a precious thing to my assignment for the organization. It was one of our greatest rules and a death sentence but even knowing this didn't cause me to have any regret. Twenty years of killing and hatred hadn't compared to one night of pure love.

If all I had with Dimitri was one night, then at least I had that to live with. However long that might be, I wasn't sure. I didn't have time to think about this as Dimitri walked in wearing only his boxers and held a plate in each hand.

"Good morning, Roza." He said softly and handed me a plate full of what I'd heard to be blini. He walked out of the room before coming back in with a cup of coffee and a glass of milk. He handed me the glass of milk before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Good morning, comrade." I said and he sat down on the bed next to me as I took a bite. "Damn. This is really good."

He laughed before saying "I'm glad you like it. I don't really know your food preferences but I was always told that something is better than nothing."

We ate in silence after that and I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about. I would catch him looking at me as he drank his coffee and I could see that something was troubling him. I placed my empty plate on his nightstand before placing my hand on his knee.

"What's on your mind?" I finally asked and he placed his plate on top of mine along with my empty glass and his empty coffee cup.

He kissed me lightly instead of answering and I knew that this wasn't what had actually been on his mind but it was a distraction. If I hadn't been with the organization all of my life, I would have fallen for it.

He wasn't that lucky though.

"Comrade…" I said and pulled away from his kiss. "Talk to me."

He pulled away just enough to look into my eyes before asking "What does this mean for us?"

I felt my heartbeat take off before I rested my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes and inhaled his scent as I thought about how to answer his question. "We take it one day at a time."

He was about to say something else when a knock on the door sounded. I quickly grabbed my clothes and put them on before running a hand through my hair a few times. I finally gave up and after grabbing my purse, walked out of the bedroom to see Adrian standing in the doorway, along with his wife and Vivienne.

Adrian's green eyes stared me down and his wife smiled at me sympathetically. Sydney's tight grip on Vivienne showed that she knew what I was doing here and that she knew that I belonged to Robert. I belonged to him. I fucking belonged to him and it had just dawned on me.

"I'll see you later. I have to get back to Lissa. She's probably worried." I told Dimitri before leaning down and Vivienne immediately ran to me. She threw her arms around my neck and I held her closely.

She pulled back a little before asking "Are you coming back today?"

I nodded before looking to Dimitri, who smiled at the news. Adrian and Sydney didn't look near as thrilled but faked it regardless. I broke away from the hug with Vivienne and walked out the door, fighting the urge to run out of the apartment complex.

I began to turn down the alley when I felt a pair of arms grab me and I felt a cold metal against my cheek. I opened my eyes to see that Adrian was my attacker and his eyes were full of a cold hate that meant that he had no probably killing me during the day.

"What are you playing at Rose? Is this Robert's knew game of being fucking hilarious?" he growled before throwing me to the ground and pulling my gun from my bag.

I was completely at his mercy but I wasn't afraid, even when I could feel my head start to spin. I finally stood up so that I could look into his eyes before saying "No, Robert doesn't allow us to waste time with playing with emotions. You know that."

He walked over and aimed the gun at me before asking "Explain to me why I shouldn't kill you right now?"

"I'm the only one who can help them." I said and he gently placed the gun back in my bag before dropping it on the ground.

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration before looking back at me. "Why? Why are you trying to help Dimitri? I know why it is with Vivienne but why him?"

"Adrian." I started but I couldn't finish my sentence before looking down at my feet. He walked closer and I knew he was pressuring me to tell him my reason, even if I couldn't bring myself to admit it to myself. "I love him and that's why I can't let him die."

He looked at me completely stunned before his look turned mistrusting. "So you have a heart after all?"

I didn't answer but he put his gun away before throwing my bag at me. I caught it without hesitation and looked back up at him.

"Don't give me a reason to kill you. He's already lost Noleen and I don't want to be the reason he loses you." He gave me a smug smile before saying "Don't think I won't do it, little killer."

I fought the urge to pull my gun out and shooting him in his smug face before walking away. It wasn't a long walk to my apartment but it gave me time to have a bit of peace.

I walked up the stairs to my apartment and saw that the door was already open. Lissa never left the door open but there was definitely someone still inside. I could hear their footsteps and I drew my gun.

I walked in and slammed the door behind me before aiming my gun at the intruder's head. Anger immediately filled me when I saw who it was and I cocked the gun.

"You have five seconds to explain to me why I shouldn't blow your fucking brains out and paint the damn wall with your blood." I had more hatred and malice in my voice than I had heard in years but it wasn't a game this time.

This was not what I needed right now and I wasn't the type to give second chances, let alone a third. I placed my finger on the trigger, ready to fire at any moment.

"So I suggest you start explaining explaining."

*****Well that was quite a greeting. Who's the intruder? What's going to happen next? R&amp;R and thanks for the reviews on the last chapter everyone. Thank you for reading and have a great day.**


	30. Chapter 30

"Here I was under the impression that you needed my help." Janine said as she stayed perfectly calm.

I didn't lower my gun as I said "I'll live without it."

"You might but he won't. I'm not here to help you, Rose. I'm here to prove you wrong." She said and stood up. I knew then that she was talking about the idea of faking Dimitri's death and as much as I didn't want her help, I knew she was right.

However, I didn't know what she mean by prove me wrong. "What are you proving me wrong about?"

"You said that I wasn't the person that your father fell in love with. I still am and to prove this to you, I'm going to help you." I felt anger rise up in me immediately and wanted to shoot her desperately. I'd make a mental note to do so after Dimitri and Vivienne were safe.

I put my gun back in my holster before walking over. "Not for anyone else but yourself."

"No." she said and I looked up at her, a question in my eyes. Her brown eyes looked back into mine and she smiled. Both of my parents may have had brown eyes but it was my father's eyes that I'd inherited. "For your father's sake."

I sat down then and forced myself to keep an open mind to whatever she was going to suggest. She took a deep breath before saying "We're going to have to tell him, Rose. Also, you're going to need to get someone on the agency on your side so they can watch your back. I'd say Mia and while she can defend herself, she won't betray the agency more than she has. Lissa, if she knows the truth, might be more than willing."

I jerked my head up and let my eyes show the worry that I held in my eyes. "How do you know?"

"Your father was good at keeping secrets." She let a small, sad smile touch her lips. "I was good at finding them."

"That's how you found out about the organization." It wasn't a question, but a statement. She didn't say anything more but just nodded her head.

She went to stand up and pulled her hair back into a pony tail. "This needs to be done within the next three days, Rose. You need to tell Dimitri and Lissa the truth. Start with Lissa and then go to Dimitri."

I felt my stomach clench at the thought of telling him. "Mom."

I could hear that my voice sounded more broken than ever but she needed to know the truth about the two of us before I went into this.

"I'm involved with him." I turned to look at her before saying "Romantically."

She put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and I didn't bother shaking it off. It wasn't as bad as I would have thought and I even had a bit of comfort from it.

"You're so much like your father but your worst traits come from me. I was just hoping that forbidden love would pass you up." She squeezed my shoulder before disappearing out the door.

Three minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, Lissa walked in. She was still wearing the dress that she wore last night and I gave her a questioning look.

"I stayed with Christian and we talked all night if you can believe that. I may have made a few mistakes of my own last night too." She blushed lightly before seeing that I wasn't smiling.

She walked over and sat down next to me before asking "What's happened?"

I felt a tear slide down my face and I heard my voice come out as a whisper. "There's something I have to tell you."

"Rose." She said and put a hand on my stomach. "Are you pregnant?"

I laughed humorlessly and said "No, I wish it were that simple."

She'd relaxed for just a moment before stiffening back up. I sat and faced her, waiting on words to come out of my mouth but for once, I was completely speechless.

"Rose, just tell me." she said and I could feel that the longer I waited, the more she was going to hurt.

"It's about Andre." I told her and I saw her eyes start to water at the mention of his name. "He didn't die in a car accident."

She put a bit of space in between us and I took a breath before going into the explanation. "We were never told who he was meant to kill and I found the other night. He and Mia were together at the time when Noleen Belikova's file was pulled and she was assigned to him. Noleen's file was pulled because she was a threat to her father-in-law. She found out his plans Vivienne and since Dimitri didn't know what the family business was, he wouldn't be involved."

"What does this have to do with Andre?" she growled and it was the first time I'd ever been the subject of her anger.

I gathered my thoughts and continued. "Andre said that it was wrong to kill for money and that we were supposed to kill for the protection of the organization. Still, he went along with the kill and told only Mia about the assignment. He staged the car accident that killed Noleen and the minute he was alone, Robert shot him."

"That son of a bitch." She growled and kicked our glass table over to the point of it shattering and I could see anger cross all of her features. "Why am I just now hearing this?"

"Mia wanted to tell you herself because she knew that you would think it was her fault that Andre was killed." Lissa calmed down then and I saw pure disbelief in her eyes.

"I would never blame her for this. She loved him. I saw it every time she walked past him." I was thankful when she said this and she looked at me then, worry was written in her eyes. "Rose, what's going on?"

I took a deep breath before saying "My mom's going to help me save Dimitri but I need your help. I am going to kill Victor and I need your help to kill Robert afterwards."

"I'm in. Not just for revenge though." I looked up at her confused then and she said "Do you have any idea how many people don't want to be here but can't leave? The organization will disband after Robert dies because he has no children. Neither does Victor. It'll be like a declaration of freedom for both organizations."

I was surprised to hear this but there was one question I had that wouldn't be quiet. "You're willing to risk everything for this?"

"I'll give up whatever means necessary for my family." She hugged me then and said "That includes you, Rose."

I hugged her back and couldn't help but feel a little more safe. She knew and was good at keeping secrets, but more importantly, I wasn't alone anymore.

I pulled away from the hug before looking towards the door and felt my heart grow heavy. Lissa put a hand on my shoulder, confusion crossing her features.

"There's one more person who needs to hear the truth."

*****It's literally the moment of truth everyone. Things are going to start going to chaos very soon. Is everyone going to get their happy ending? Who knows? Thank you so much everyone who reviewed on the last chapter. It always brightens my day to read them. R&amp;R and let me know what you think.**


	31. Chapter 31

I took a deep breath before knocking on Dimitri's door but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't calm my breathing. I felt tears threatening to spill out and expose themselves and my heart was beating a million miles a minute. When he opened the door, my heart skipped a beat and that was as close as it came to settling down.

"Hey." He said and hugged me to him before kissing me on the cheek. He pulled back, when he noticed how tense I was. "What's wrong?"

I decided to ask one of the most important questions of the night. "Where's Vivienne?"

He looked towards her room and I could see her sleeping peacefully on her bed. I felt my stomach twist up in knots as I looked back at Dimitri. His eyes were untrusting, cautious, and confused.

"I have to tell you something." I told him and he crossed his arms over his chest before sitting down on the couch.

He held my eyes as he said softly "Then tell me."

I couldn't bring myself to get anywhere near him but I could feel my heart breaking before the words even came out of my mouth. "I didn't meet you by accident."

"Do you mean you purposefully put yourself in my line of sight?" He asked with a teasing expression on his face.

"No." I said and I could feel unwanted tears begin to run down my face. I leaned against the door and said "I'm going to need you to listen to me. No matter how you feel after I tell you this, you have to keep yourself and Vivienne safe. To do this, you're going to need to listen to me. Adrian and my mom are on their way."

He raised an eyebrow then and stood up from the couch. "Rose, what are you talking about?"

"I was sent here to kill you. I live in an organization of assassins and we got a request from your father to kill you. Twice." I said and his eyes were clearly unbelieving but cautious still.

He didn't say anything and I dug my nails into my arms as I crossed them over my chest. "My best friend's brother was sent to kill you a while back and was killed because he failed. When I told you that Noleen's death wasn't your fault, I could say that because I knew it for a fact."

"Rose, you sound crazy right now." I could see the anger was clear in his eyes and even more so in his voice.

I took a shaky breath and said "Think about it Dimitri. Your father wouldn't ever tell you what the family business was and after you leave, your wife dies. That isn't a coincidence. She died because she found out and didn't want Vivienne or you apart of that. That's why she was urging you to get out of Russia as quickly as possible."

I saw realization come into his eyes and he put his hands to his head, taking his eyes off of me. "What was going to happen to Vivienne after you killed me?"

"After you were gone, I didn't want her to have any chance of falling into Randall's care. The deal was that after I killed you and the man that murdered my father, I'd…" I stopped and he looked up at me with hatred in his eyes. The man who had held me in his arms while we made love was gone. "I'd take Vivienne and raise her to make sure she was safe."

He stood up then and glared down at me. "Get the hell out of my house and stay away from me and my daughter. If you come around her again, I'll kill you. Do you understand that?"

He blocked the path between me and his daughter's bedroom with his body. She was out of sight but I could still here her light breathing in her room. I looked back up at him and heard footsteps coming up.

"I can't do that. If you want her safe, you're going to have to trust me one more time. We don't have time to argue so if you want her safe, you are going to have to listen to us." my voice sounded unafraid and unfeeling but my heart was breaking as I saw the way he looked at me with disgust in his eyes. It wasn't just disgust though, I was used to that. It was the betrayal that showed in his eyes and there wasn't a trace of the affection he'd held for me moments ago.

He didn't have time to say anything before Adrian, Lissa, and Christian walked into the apartment. I felt nervous when I didn't see my mom but Lissa gave me an assuring nod. She'd be here.

"I explained everything to him and he's willing to help." Lissa said and gestured to Christian, placing one of her hands on his arm. I was glad to see that he'd forgiven her, but in truth, there was nothing for him to forgive her about.

Adrian laughed and Christian glared at him. "Figures you would be a heartless killer. What would Sydney think?"

"I'm not heartless and Sydney knows."

Christian rolled his eyes and pulled away from our crowd to look at Dimitri, who seemed to be unsure of trusting anyone in that moment. Dimitri's glare fell on Adrian, who simply shrugged under the gaze.

"We all have to do what we can to survive. She's right though. If you want to continue raising Vivienne and keep her safe, you're going to have to listen to her." he said and that was when my mom decided to walk in.

She gave me a nod before turning to Dimitri. "Everything is ready but we're going to have to move fast and you're going to have to do exactly as I say. One wrong move and it'll get everyone in here killed."

He looked at all of them but not once did his eyes fall on me before walking back to Vivienne's room. He scooped her up and she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck. He walked into the living room and was holding her as close as he could without waking her up.

My mom led Dimitri, Christian, and a calmly sleeping Vivienne out of the room which left me, Lissa, and Adrian. Lissa looked over and gave me a sympathetic smile. "She said to wait three hours before telling Robert that Dimitri is dead. She said to say that Vivienne was caught in the crossfire. It's better for everyone to think she's dead too. I'll meet you out front."

She walked over and hugged me which only made it harder for me to keep my tears from sliding down my face. I returned the hug before saying "After all this time, I'm finally going to kill Victor and I'm not even sure it was worth it."

She squeezed me tightly before pulling away. "It's going to be okay, Rose. He'll forgive you."

"Yeah, it's not like planning on killing him and raising his child is the worst possible thing you could have done to him." Adrian calmly replied. I looked at Lissa and she just shrugged.

I pulled out of the embrace and walked over to Adrian. "Since I have nothing left to lose."

He was about to have some snarky reply but was cut off when my fist connected with his nose, a satisfaction filling me when I heard the bone snap. Lissa was about to say something when Adrian rose up the hand that wasn't stopping the blood from pouring out of his nose.

"Trust me, I deserved that." he said and I looked back to her to nod once before walking out of the room and down to the front of the apartment complex.

I caught of glimpse of Dimitri holding Vivienne close to him before my mom closed the door to the car. She looked to me and gave me an unsure look.

"Thank you." I told her and she looked at me confused. "Even if I don't get to keep them, at least they are safe."

She put a hand on my shoulder before nodding and getting into the car. She drove off without a word and though I couldn't see through the black tinted windows, I knew that Dimitri hadn't looked back at me.

Lissa and I walked back toward the old abandoned prison and her phone buzzed when we got to the gates. She pulled it out and I saw what anyone else would have thought to be Dimitri and Vivienne's dead bodies with bullet wounds and blood covering them in an alley way. For those of us who knew the truth, it was makeup and animal blood covering them. My mom had grabbed my phone and seeing the words "From Rose" light up the screen made my heart nearly stop.

I looked away from the pictures, knowing that I was about to have to take credit for the murder of an amazing man and his beautiful daughter. Knowing that I'd lost them forever despite the fact that they were still breathing. I decided to take all of the anger I had at the situation and focus it on my soon to be target.

Robert met us at the gate and smiled at the grim expressions on our faces. Lissa acted as if nothing was wrong but her eyes were bright with hate and murderous intent. It was taking everything she had not to kill Robert then and there. I could tell that Lissa held no anger at Mia for keeping this from her but the hate she had for Robert matched my own hatred for Victor. Tonight would be the night for revenge.

"Is your assignment done?" he asked and Lissa handed him the phone for confirmation. He smiled and handed the phone back to her. "Good. I thought you were going to save the little girl?"

"She was caught in the crossfire. I'd changed my mind by that point." I told him and my voice was as uncaring as it had been before I met Vivienne and Dimitri. Uncaring and remorseless: that was who I'd been and the person I never could be again.

He smiled in approval before clearing his throat. "Rosemarie Hathaway, you're next assignment is Victor Dashkov. Good luck."

He walked off after that and I looked at Lissa as soon as he was out of sight. "Thank you for being my best friend in this hell."

She nodded before reaching into her small black bag. "I have something for you. It seemed fitting for the situation."

I gave her a confused look but when she pulled the item from her bag, I felt a part of my heart come back to my life. It was a gun but not just any gun. There was a silver rose etched into the metal of the gun and the initials _I.M._ scratched into the side. My father's gun was one of his most prized possessions and I thought it had been with Robert all these years.

"It's time." she said and handed me the gun, the cool metal immediately filling me with the intent to kill.

I put a hand on her arm before saying "I'll let you know the second he's dead. Tomorrow, it's his turn."

She smiled then, a light peace covering her at the thought of having justice at last for her brother's murder. "I'll bring you back to where your mom is after all of this is done."

With a nod, I made my way out of the prison and into the woods on my own. It was going to be a long walk to cool my head and as I stuck the gun in the back of my jeans, I erased any thoughts of what had happened tonight. I pushed Dimitri and Vivienne to the back of my mind despite my heart ache for them.

Victor Daskov was finally mine.

*****I finally updated. I wanted to give a great big thank you for all the reviews on the last chapter. I'm so glad you all are still enjoying the story and I apologize for the delayed update. I was experiencing a bit of writers block but I hope this chapter was good. R&amp;R and thank you for reading.**


	32. Chapter 32

As I stood in front of the building that was Victor's fraternity's hideout, I realized that I hadn't thought my plan all the way through. It was an abandoned factory that they lived in and though that made it easy to spot, it also meant that it was going to be a real bitch to get into this place. The few windows that were on the building would be heavily guarded and I could see that any holes that would be available were plastered down with cement. The only way to get into the damn place was through the front door.

"Shit!" I said and knew that I didn't have to worry about being heard. No one was patrolling the outside because that would make people curious. A curious person was a dead person in this sense.

I heard laughter behind me and turned to see Adrian walking towards me. "You didn't think it would be that simple. I'm slightly disappointed in you, little killer."

"Don't call me that. Shouldn't you be at home guarding Dimitri and Vivienne?" I growled and he simply held up his hand in surrender.

"They have enough protection. Not to mention, it looks like you're going to need some help." He said and I desperately wanted to slap the smug smile off of his face.

I snorted before saying "I'm sure you're just trying to be a good Samaritan and help me."

"No." I knew he wasn't finished and waited for him to tell me the rest. His expression went serious, a rarity for Adrian Ivashkov. "If you fuck up, they come after me, Sydney, Dimitri, and Vivienne."

I turned back to the factor and asked "Do you have any suggestions?"

"None that you will like." He said and I looked back at him, a mischievous glint in his emerald green eyes.

Before I could react, he grabbed my arms and pinned them behind me and I immediately started kicking at him. I looked up at him with murderous intent before I realized that this was the only way we were going to get into this fucking place.

I quit kicking as hard and let him drag me inside the factory's doors. None of the other agents blinked an eye as I fought against him and I was grateful that he kept my hands at the back of my jeans to cover my gun. Had that been spotted, it would be all over.

Doors opened and the first thing I saw was Victor sitting at a large desk. I immediately felt any other emotion that I'd felt escape and knew without a doubt that I wouldn't be able to walk out of here until I was bathed in his blood.

He smiled and said "Well look at this. Mr. Ivashkov has been so kind to bring me a treat. Ibrahim Mazur's daughter, Rosemarie. You look just like your father, dear. Much different from the little girl I saw twelve years ago."

"At least age did one of us good." I growled and the smile fell from his face. He stood from behind his desk and walked over to us.

Adrian held me closer than before and I realized that he was extremely unsure of this plan. I had no way of showing him that I was going to be okay or any way to know that for sure but I wasn't about to back down.

"Leave us, Adrian. The rest of you as well." I watched as Adrian and five other unfamiliar faces left the room.

Victor smiled as the doors closed and I grabbed the gun out of the back of my jeans. He immediately realized that he'd been tricked but I could tell that he wasn't near as afraid as any normal person would be. Even a few assassins had been known to beg for their life. This bastard was just determined to keep calm.

"I assume that my brother finally gave you the assignment to kill me. The greedy bastard would do anything to have my organization." He almost smiled at Robert's predictable nature.

I cocked my gun at him and kept my well trained eyes on him. "You murdered my father. I don't give a shit what Robert's motives were but all that matters is that you are going to finally pay for what you've done."

"Rosemarie." He started and then smiled. "Is it truly any different from what you've done with your latest assignment?"

I didn't move and felt a stab at my heart as I thought of Vivienne and Dimitri. True, they were still breathing but a part of them had died that night that they found out the truth. A part of Dimitri was gone that I would never get back.

"That little girl of Dimitri's is absolutely beautiful. To think, if his wife wouldn't have gotten in the car that day, you wouldn't have had to deal with this. You would still be the cold hearted person you were. That's all changed now, hasn't it?" He asked and I didn't trust myself to answer him.

He simply smiled after a few minutes of me being quiet. "Countless families have been torn apart because of you. We're not so different after all, Rose."

I felt the anger spike in my blood then and pulled the trigger. Victor casually moved around the bullets and came close enough to me to knock the gun out of my hands. We wrestled to the ground as his body made contact with my own.

I felt pain at the back of my head as I hit the ground. He wrapped one of his hands around my throat and began pressing down. I felt my oxygen being cut off and when I looked up, I could see him smiling.

"This is a truly beautiful sight. They aren't really dead are they? Imagine how thrilled Robert will be to hear that his best assassin betrayed him for a little girl and her father." He laughed as he pressed down harder. I threw myself into my instincts then and let all of the humanity leave.

I reached up and dug my nails into both sides of his throat and pressed hard and quick until they met in the middle of his throat, enough to distract him but not deep enough to kill. When he let go to remove my nails from his throat, I kicked him in the hip hard enough that I knew the bone had shattered with the impact of my steel toes.

I didn't look back as I ran to my gun, a mistake I knew I would pay for. I picked up my father's gun and shot at him. This time, the bullet made impact and I saw the hole in his chest. He placed his hand over it and his free hand rested on his desk.

"How does it feel, Rosemarie?" He asked and I looked at him confused, not taking my gun away from him. "You have nothing to live for now. You've killed me and you have no other purpose."

I laughed and lowered my gun. "You're wrong. I'm going to send your brother to hell with you and I am going to help finish raising Vivienne."

I didn't know if this were true or not but I wasn't going to let him think for a moment that I had nothing to live for. I heard the doors open and looked to see Adrian and a few of Victor's assassins behind him. They had smiles on their faces and I realized that Lissa had been right. They were free now and I could see that it was a freedom that had long been denied. Victor's right hand man, Joshua, stood proud and more alive than ever.

"Wrong again, Rosemarie." I heard Victor say and I turned back to him. "I am your last kill."

I didn't have time to process what he was saying before I heard Adrian say "Look out!"

I didn't have time to react before I felt the knife that Victor had thrown make contact with my left side. I gasped in pain and could hear Victor laugh as he choked on his blood from the bullet wound. I saw his dead body fall to the ground and felt my knees give out.

I felt arms holding my head up and saw Adrian crouch down next to me. I could hear him screaming but I was unable to make out the words of what was said. I looked down to see blood spilling where the knife was and the crimson liquid had covered my hands and was dripping onto the floor.

I watched as Adrian continued to scream and then saw Mia come into view. I knew then that Lissa must have told her what was going to happen and she had rushed to help. I wanted to tell them to tell Lissa, Dimitri, and Vivienne that I loved them. I wanted to see them and tell them myself more than anything. I felt tears begin to pour down my face as I realized that I wouldn't get to tell them this myself but I desperately hoped they knew.

As the dark shapes started taking over my vision, I didn't feel fear. I couldn't help but feel a little hopeful at the fact that I may see my father again. I mostly felt peace though. I knew that Lissa would kill Robert and finish what I'd started. The organizations would cease to exist and she would have peace with Christian and her parents. She would finally be happy.

Vivienne and Dimitri would live for several years to come. They would be kept safe with their new family. That was what this had all been for and it was coming to an end. I hoped that Dimitri would forgive me some day, for everything that I'd put him through. I also hoped he would realize how much I truly loved him and Vivienne.

I let the memory of Dimitri holding me close after we'd made love be my last memory as I closed my eyes, letting darkness finally take me.

*****So sorry for the long wait but I finally updated and I have to say that I got very emotional during this chapter. I was listening to a sad song while writing this and that probably wasn't the best idea. Anyway, I hope you all are still enjoying the story and it is not over yet. Also, let me know if you guys would like a chapter from Dimitri's POV. Thank you all for the lovely reviews on the last chapter! R&amp;R and have a great day **


	33. Chapter 33

_**~DIMITRI POV~**_

I watched Vivienne closer than I ever had in my life. I didn't feel safe as I looked from Rose's mother Janine or her best friend Lissa. Sydney and Christian put me on edge as well and I had to fight my instinct to grab Vivienne and run. I felt guiltier now than I ever had over Noleen's death and wished that I had gotten in that car that day.

She had never been aggressive but being around my father had also put her on the defense. I now knew why and I wished that she would have told me why it was that we had to leave Russia so quickly herself. My father had never been a good man but a lethal assassin had never crossed my mind.

He'd sent an assassin out on me and had wanted to take my child and turn her into one of them. As I looked into a reflection of my own eyes in hers, I couldn't help but feel sick at the thought of my daughter turning out like him or Rose.

Rose's name brought an all too familiar ache to my heart and I couldn't but wish that I would wake up from a nightmare or that they would all say that it was a big joke. That wasn't my life though and I wasn't one to imagine scenarios. I had to be watchful and quick to think but somehow, Rose had managed to find her way into my heart.

"Lissa!" I heard a woman scream and I forced myself to stay still until a familiar voice called "Janine!"

I finally turned around and saw why they were panicking but immediately wished I wouldn't have. I saw a knife plunged deep into Rose's and her eyes were closed. I felt the ache in my heart become intensified and wanted to desperately look away but I was unable to.

Janine rushed over by her daughter's side and I immediately rushed to Vivienne. I knew that there was nothing I could do for Rose but I wasn't going to let my daughter witness more of this than she had to.

I pulled Vivienne to me and she began crying, a sound that broke what was left of my heart. I saw Lissa come over to her side and watched as Janine removed the knife from Rose's side and Lissa put pressure on it to stop the bleeding while Adrian grabbed something to begin stitching up the wound.

The entire time that this was being done, not once did Rose move. She laid there with her eyes closed and I could see that she was barely breathing. A young blonde girl stood by her side and was keeping a hand on Rose's wrist to make sure that her pulse didn't fall any more than it already had.

"Rose, you've got to stay with us. You can't leave." The blonde couldn't seem to stop the tears that rolled down her face.

Sydney walked over with a bottle of whiskey and handed it to Janine. Janine looked up at the girl and growled "Mia, that isn't going to help anything."

Mia let a few more tears fall before composing herself and I could see that Lissa was trying to keep calm but couldn't keep a few stray tears from falling herself. A choking sob caught my attention and I turned away from the scene to look down at Vivienne.

"I'm going to lose another mom." It was so quiet that I almost didn't hear her and had it been any other situation, I wouldn't have believed the words.

Christian walked over to us and gestured toward the hallway of the abandon building we were currently residing in. Vivienne clung to me tightly and I was glad that she kept her face buried because whatever look I gave Christian was far from grateful.

"I know you're pissed but I didn't know about either. I just know that I'm not going to turn my back on her because she didn't tell me—"

I interrupted by saying "That she's a cold blooded killer. I can understand why you would feel that way but I have a child that didn't need to be brought into all of this. Despite my feelings for Rose, Vivienne is my main priority. I would think that you of all people would understand that."

He gave me a smirk and said "I would say that Adrian understood the situation better than I did under normal circumstances. Sydney and Adrian have done this for a long time and you see that Vivienne is safe with them. Why is Rose different?"

"Because last I checked, I wasn't on Sydney or Adrian's hit list. I was on hers." I growled and Christian looked like he wanted to say something but stayed quiet.

I saw something change in his eyes then and he said "You were on your father's list, not Rose's. You know this and I know that you know she did it because she wanted to kill the man that murdered her father. Admit it, if you could get your hands on the person that killed Noleen—"

"Don't you dare bring her into this." I growled and held Vivienne closer so she wouldn't hear what was being said, though she was still sobbing so I doubted she was paying much attention to us.

"Dimitri," he started and waited until I relaxed a little more before "Noleen was already a part of this long before any of us had a clue about this organization."

Despite the truth in his words, it didn't change what I felt. I let the subject go for now and looked down at Vivienne. From one look, I could tell that she'd been listening to us intently and immediately felt guilty for her hearing that. In the long run, I didn't know if hearing us or seeing Rose would leave a longer burn in her memory.

Janine walked out a few minutes later and her hands were coated with Rose's blood. She gave me a stern look but I could see the worried mother expression she was desperately trying to hide. I found myself desperate to know if Rose was okay and if she was going to make it but the thought of her saying that she wouldn't made it hard for me to ask.

"Is she going to be okay?" Vivienne asked and I could see tears falling down her face. I gently squeezed her shoulders in comfort and hoped for the best.

Janine sighed before saying "She's stable but she's going to need constant looking after for the next few days. Something we won't be able to do easily. Lissa has to go back to Robert and keep an eye on her family. Adrian and Sydney have to make sure that the assassin's from the now disbanded organization are coping well. Mia has to go back to Robert as well so that it doesn't raise any suspicions. Which leaves me but she is going to need twenty-four hour surveillance."

I didn't have time to think the words through before saying "I'll help you."

Janine gave a relieved smile and I let Vivienne go to Christian. I had to start building trust somewhere and here was a good place. "Thank you."

I nodded and walked into the room where Rose was laying on a couple of mats that had been left in the building. I could see that she was no bandaged up and I pulled off my duster to lay over her to keep her warm.

I couldn't but think about what she'd said that night the truth had come out. About how she said I'd have to trust her one more time if I wanted to keep Vivienne safe and it was in that moment that it dawned on me that it would have been easier for her to kill me. She wouldn't have had to risk the fact that her boss would kill her had he found out the truth but she could have gone peaceably with Vivienne.

She'd sacrificed everything to keep me in Vivienne's life… and I'd thrown it in her face. I felt my heart grow heavy at the realization and looked at her, wishing that I could see her beautiful brown eyes looking into mine. I moved a strand of her dark hair away from her face before I gently took her hand in mine, placing my fingers over her wrist so that I could feel the light beating of her heart.

It was then that I realized that just as it had been with Noleen, my time with Rose was too short and despite how wrong this all started out and how it only seemed to be getting worse, she'd made the choice to save us. It was the reason that I couldn't bring myself to hold on to the hatred that I had felt for her only hours ago.

"Rose." I started and felt tears begin to sting my eyes. "If you make it through this, I want to start over with you. I want to tell you thank you for doing this for me and Vivienne despite your better judgement. I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

I knew she couldn't hear me but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing at this point. I had let almost all of my emotions and thoughts come pouring out and felt a weight being lifted off of my shoulder but there was still just one last thing that I needed to say.

"Rose, I love you."

*****Well there is another update. I wanted to say thank you so much for every beautiful review I received on the last chapter. They made my day that much better and this would have been updated sooner but somehow the file was deleted. So sorry for the wait but I hope this chapter wasn't disappointing. Thank you for reading and don't forget to R&amp;R. **


	34. Chapter 34

_**~ROSE POV~**_

The agonizing pain in my side was what caused me to wake up, but the feeling of someone holding my hand was what caused me to open my eyes. If you had told me that the man I'd planned on killing for so long would be the one to hold my hand while I was on my death bed, I would have laughed. It seemed almost cruel for fate to play out like this but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I could see from the dark circles under his eyes that he hadn't slept in a while. I gently squeezed his hand and his eyes fluttered open. I had to fight not to turn away because something in his eyes seemed to set my very soul on fire.

"Hey, comrade." I finally said. Of all the shitty openings, that one would have topped a lot of them. He gave me a breathtaking smile at the simple, corny line.

He didn't say anything but instead offered me a cup of water and what I knew was pain medicine, something I gladly took. I'd learned after all the years of broken bones and cruel beatings that when someone offered you something to numb the pain, you didn't argue with it.

"How long have I been out?" I asked and in truth, I didn't really want to know the answer.

He waited until I'd swallowed the medicine and water before saying "Four days."

"Fuck." I growled and went to sit up but he gently pushed me back against the mats I was laying on. He was careful not to touch the injured area and for that I was grateful.

"You need to rest, Roza." His voice was gentle and like velvet but I refused to get caught up in that. I knew what reality was and what a dream was.

I felt a pull on my heart, desperately wishing the dream that I'd had was true. While I'd been sleeping, I'd dreamt that Dimitri told me that he loved me and wanted to be with me. To start over and clear things up. Something I knew was ridiculous but I longed for it anyway.

I propped myself up on my elbows and couldn't help but notice the slight pain in my back. from where I'd slept on the uncomfortable make shift bed for so long. "How's Vivienne?"

"She's fine." he said and I noticed that he didn't sound angry in the least. "She's worried about you. I'd send her in to see you but she's sleeping now."

I looked down at my bandaged side and said "No, it's okay. She's not the only one who needs sleep though."

"I promised your mother that I'd help watch over you and…" I could tell he almost didn't want to tell me the next part but I couldn't let it go. I kept my eyes trained on him and waited for him to continue. "I couldn't sleep until I knew you were okay."

I laughed lightly before saying "Comrade, I know you weren't worried about me."

He didn't say anything but a humorless smile came in to view and in his eyes I could see that there was fear and uncertainty, two qualities that I never would have thought he possessed. I should have stayed quiet but I couldn't let this go. I had to know the answer and if things between us were truly dead.

"Why?" he looked away for a moment before finally deciding to look me in the eyes.

He took a breath to gather his thoughts before saying "Because I've already lost one woman that I loved and losing another would be too much."

My brain completely froze and the only thought that came to mind that after all of the shit I'd put him through, he still liked me. Loved me.

"Rose." He started and any mental babbling I was doing came to a stop as I focused on his words. "You know as well as I do that what you did was wrong. I shouldn't trust you but you risked everything for me and my daughter. Despite the original plan to take off with her, you changed you mind and made sure that I would be able to stay in her life. I can't thank you enough for that."

"Dimitri, you have no reason to thank me." I could feel my heart breaking into pieces as I said the words because I knew that after the thank you, came the goodbye. That was something that I wasn't nearly ready to go through yet, not after he'd just told me he loved me.

He laughed before saying "I'm not finished, Roza." I stayed quiet and watched his eyes carefully. "The past is in the past and what matters is what we want for our futures. Vivienne thinks of you as a mother as it is and I can't bear the thought of being without. I love you and I would like to start over. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, however long it may be."

I felt tears sting my eyes for the first time in a long time and didn't fight as they fell down my cheek. I looked back down at my side before saying "I'm not awake, am I?"

"What?" He asked and I could hear the confusion in his voice.

I looked up at him with a sad, humorless smile and tears streaming down my face. "I'm going to wake up any second and things will be like they were when I left."

He didn't say anything but instead let his hands gently tangle themselves in my hair and then the most amazing thing happened. I felt his lips on mine and sparks began to fly. I put all of the passion that I'd locked away flood into this kiss and I lifted my free arm to wrap around his neck.

I wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted but it didn't seem long enough. The sound of someone clearing their throat was what caused us to break apart. I looked over and saw Lissa standing in the doorway.

"Vivienne's awake and wants to see you guys but if you need a little private time, then I can tell her to wait." She said, a teasing look crossing her features.

Christian came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before saying "We wouldn't want to scar the poor kid."

"Christian, fuck off." I said and kissed Dimitri again before saying "This definitely isn't a dream."

Dimitri laughed before asking "Why is that?"

"Because if this were a dream, we'd both be naked by now and Christian definitely wouldn't be here." It was barely above a whisper but Dimitri heard it and laughed before gently pecking my lips.

I moved away from him just as Vivienne came running in, her strawberry blonde curls everywhere and I could tell that she had just woken up. She came over and gently hugged me. I could tell that Dimitri was on the verge of protesting when I smirked at him. We'd just made out; I didn't think a hug was going to do any damage.

"I'm glad you're okay, Rose." She said and I could hear that she was close to crying.

I hugged her closer before saying "I'm not leaving you any time soon, baby girl."

Dimitri placed a hand on her back and she moved from my arms to his. I never would have shown it, but I was thankful. While I loved her very much, my side was still aching from Victor's damn knife.

With the remembrance of the knife, I was reminded that I had still had a job to do. I stood up from the mats and saw my father's gun laying on one of the small counters in the room. I picked up the gun and I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Roza." Dimitri growled and it was definitely a tone that a father would use but I didn't have time for a smart ass comeback right now.

Lissa came over and put her hands on the gun before saying "You are too weak to go face Robert right now."

"Have you lost your mind?" Christian asked before holding up a hand and saying "No, we've been known that but this is suicide."

I at Vivienne and Dimitri before saying "It's not just the two of you that needed my help."

I looked to Lissa, who seemed to know exactly what I was about to say. "Our organization deserves the freedom that Victor's has. Not to mention, I'm not going alone this time."

She smiled before saying "You think I don't want to go in there and pain the walls with his blood. My family is there as well as all of our friends. I want nothing more than to see them free but you can't do this. Not right now."

I knew she was right but waiting another day gave Robert more time to figure out what we were planning. "Robert's going to get suspicious when I don't show up for a few days and then what happens?"

"He thinks you're dead." I heard someone say and I turned around to see Mia, who looked as if she'd been through hell. "I told him you were dead so he doesn't suspect anything."

I smiled at her and said "You always were one of the best damn liars we had."

"This means that everyone is going to cancel the assassinations for a day to mourn." Mia said and I saw Adrian walk in behind her, along with Sydney and my mother.

Adrian smirked before saying "Not that there's anything worth mourning."

Sydney leaned into his embrace but pinched him as well as giving him a scolding look. I couldn't help but laugh but grabbed my gun.

"Everyone's guard is down and it's the perfect time to end this." I told Lissa and I knew that she was considering this. She knew that I was right but she didn't get to answer.

"Rosemarie Belinda Hathaway, put the gun down and rest. You may be one of the best assassins but to kill Robert Duro, you are going to need all of your strength." My mother's voice had never been a welcomed one and this was no different.

On the down side, I knew she was right. I looked to Lissa and said "Five days to rest and then I'm going after him, regardless if you come or not."

She nodded before walking back to Christian and they took their leave. Mia had to leave to get back to the organization so Robert wouldn't notice that she'd been gone. Adrian and Sydney had gone off on their own along with my mother.

So me, Dimitri, and Vivienne were left alone in the abandoned building. We'd found some extra mats and had laid them out on the floor so that the three of us could on them for the night. I couldn't help but notice that even as Vivienne slept between Dimitri and I, he was watchful of both of us.

"You never did say anything earlier." He said and I could tell that he was as close to sleep as I was.

I yawned and said "About what?"

"When I told you I loved you?" he said and I could see a playful smile on his face.

I couldn't just simply let this go. I was going to enjoy tonight and I simply said "I don't remember you telling me that you loved me. Maybe if you would tell me, I might tell you something back."

He laughed before propping up on his elbow, careful not to disturb Vivienne. We were lying on our sides with her between us on her back and she seemed to look completely at peace and safe.

He let his hand rest on my cheek and said "I love you, Roza."

I pressed a kiss into his palm before closing my eyes and sleep began to take me. I waited a minute before smiling.

"I love you, comrade."

*****There is another chapter everyone. It's getting closer and closer time to facing Robert but at least they have said I love you. Who knows what could happen. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviewed on my last chapter. I was so happy to see that you all are still enjoying the story. R&amp;R, let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!**


	35. Chapter 35

_**~DMITRI POV~**_

It was three days into Rose's five day deadline and I was still on edge every time I saw her. I had thought about asking her not to do this but when it came down to the truth, this was something I knew I couldn't talk her out of.

As I walked around the inside of the abandoned building that Rose, Vivienne, and I were staying, I could hear the sound of a gun being loaded. I followed the noise and it led me right to Rose. She was staring at her father's gun as she loaded it and I could tell that she was far off in her own world.

"Roza." I said and I saw the faintest bit of a smile spread across her face. It wasn't something I saw very often but when I did, it made the most beautiful of pictures pale in comparison.

She turned around after she put the last bullet in the gun and walked over to me to put a hand on my cheek. "Yes?"

It was a strange contrast as I felt her hands on my cheek. She'd killed countless people in her life but as I felt her skin against mine, her touch was soft and comforting.

I didn't want an argument and I knew that that was all that would come of me discussing Robert's death with her. It made me feel a little better that Lissa was going with her but that didn't mean I worried any less.

As a father, worrying was something that came natural and it was something that I was very good at. It had been new having this constant worry for someone other than Vivienne, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. My worry for Rose meant that I finally had someone that I was finally moving past Noleen. I knew that I wouldn't forget her, I saw her every time I looked at Vivienne. With the help of Rose and Vivienne, I could at least heal.

"Comrade?" She asked and I could see a bit of worry in her eyes as I stared into them.

I leaned down and kissed her with all of the passion I had in my heart. I didn't want to have to worry about anything right now. I wanted to focus on her and nothing else. Lissa, Janine, Mia, Adrian, and Sydney were all gone at the moment while Christian and Vivienne were roaming the building but in this abandoned lobby, there were no windows so no one would see us.

"I love you." I finally said and she smiled softly.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and said "I love you too, Dimitri."

I couldn't hold anything back after that. Our lips met in a fiery passion that seemed to set my whole body ablaze. My tongue slipped between her parted lips to meet with her own, savoring her sweetly addicting taste. I hadn't even been aware that we'd been walking until I felt my hands hit the wall.

I lowered my hands to her butt and she immediately jumped up so that she could wrap her legs around my waist. I didn't have to bend down now so I took the time to enjoy the feeling her hips gently thrusting against my own, trying to gain friction.

I knew we didn't have long and as much as I would have loved to make love to her slowly and for hours on end, our time together was short. She didn't seem to have the patience for it either as she slipped her hands from around my neck to my jeans to pop the button open before pulling the zipper down.

We parted to strip each other of our clothes but as soon as her underwear was kicked away we were kissing again. I thrust inside of her and couldn't help but moan at the sensation it caused. She was amazing in every way and this was definitely something that I would never get enough of.

She kissed me again, causing me to get out of my head and just focusing on the feel of her body against mine. I moved so that we were lying on top of my duster so that there would be some space between us and the cold floor. I hitched her leg over my head and kissed her while I began to pick up my pace.

She broke the kiss and moaned lightly, her breathing already picking up and I noticed that my own heart was racing. I leaned down and kissed her neck before letting one of my hands gently cup her breasts, letting the pad of my thumb run over her nipple.

She arched up against me and I could feel her walls tightening around me as she got closer and closer to the edge. She moaned my name and I could feel her nails scraping my back as my pace continued to increase before finally she bit her lip and I felt her walls tighten around me as she reached the edge.

I kissed her again and helped her ride her orgasm out as my own crept up on me. When we broke the kiss she leaned forward and gently nipped at my neck, causing my world to go up in white flames.

I rested my head on her chest and listened as her heart raced while we tried to return our breathing to normal. She gently traced patters on my back, her fingers barely grazing the skin and I couldn't help but want this to never end. I couldn't help but think that this was the only time we would be able to do this.

I'd heard Lissa and Janine talk about Robert ever since Rose went to kill Victor and if he was as lethal as they said, I didn't see her making it through this even with Lissa's help. Someone who killed without mercy was a dangerous person to encounter, let alone willingly go after.

"What's on your mind, comrade?" She asked and I smiled at the nickname. I had hated it when she'd first given it to me but now it never failed to bring a smile to my face.

I rolled to my side and propped up on my elbow, slightly cold due to the circumstances of not having a blanket to pull over us. We would have to get dressed very soon but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Not yet, at least.

I reached out with my hand and twirled a strand of her dark hair around my finger. "I love you, Roza."

I could tell that she was tired from what we'd just done but she looked at her gun and sighed. "I love you too. You should probably go find Vivienne though. I only have two more days to go and I have a lot more prep time ahead of me."

I leaned forward and pecked her lips before we both got up and got dressed. I watched as she walked directly to her gun without a backwards glance at me and studied every detail of her in that moment. I wanted to tell her to stay, to run away with me, and forget about everything here. I knew it wouldn't do any good though because she wanted the other assassin's to have full freedom and once she put her mind to something, there was no changing it.

All I could do was hope that this wasn't one of the last times I would see her.

*****There's another chapter everyone. I hope you are all are still enjoying the story and I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter and I hope this one wasn't disappointing. The next chapter will determine how much longer Dimitri has with Rose. So R&amp;R and let me know what you all think. Thank you for reading. **


	36. Chapter 36

_**~ROSE POV~**_

I couldn't help but throw all my focus into loading my gun even though I could feel both Dimitri and Vivienne's eyes on me. Lissa was getting ready in the next room and I was ready to get this over with but every second it got closer, I find myself weighing on what I was actually risking.

I finally had a family. I had Dimitri, Vivienne, Lissa, and even my mom now. Something I never thought I would have. I also thought of Lissa's family and the other assassin's and that outweighed my own selfish needs. I knew that if Dimitri tried hard enough, he could more than likely talk me out of this but instead he stayed quiet, something that I was grateful for.

I shoved my gun into my pocket and Lissa walked in at that time. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy bun much like my own and I couldn't see them but I knew that she had at least two guns on her. I'd always carried my gun with me until I'd received my father's gun but now that this was coming up, I wanted another gun to be sure that I would have one of my father's bullets for Robert. I tucked the hunting knife into my boot and we made our way over to our small group.

Lissa wrapped her arms around Christian and he held her close in a hug. There was no sign of sarcasm on his face and I hoped that if I didn't come back that she would. It was her turn to be happy and free with her family. I just hoped that this would end to all of us coming back but fairytales aren't real.

I walked to Vivienne and leaned down to her height before wrapping my arms around her neck. I could feel her tears falling down into my hair and held her tighter. It was weird how life worked out. This had all started because of Dimitri but my path had taken a different road because of Vivienne. As I held her, I realized how much I wanted to see her grow up. I wanted to be there on her first day of school every year, see her graduate, go to college, get married, and have children of her own someday.

I pulled back far enough to look into her beautiful brown eyes and smiled at her. "I love you, kiddo."

Her tears started falling faster and she said "I love you too, mama."

I felt a sting in my heart as she said the words and an unfamiliar pain filled me as I looked at her. I kissed her forehead and stood up again before looking at Dimitri. I didn't really know what to say to him, so instead I just wrapped my arms around his neck.

I felt safe in his arms and I wanted to stay there forever but that was something that wasn't going to happen so instead I held him tighter and enjoyed the feeling of his arms around me. He pulled back just enough to look at me before placing a gentle kiss on my lips.

I'd never been kissed before I met him but I could tell that this wasn't a goodbye kiss. He held so much hope that I was coming back and I desperately wanted to believe it, but it wasn't that simple. I let the taste of his mouth, the smell of his hair, and the feeling of his arms around me engulf my senses, wanting nothing more than to carry them with me when I left.

When he pulled back to soon I put my hand on his cheek. "I love you, comrade."

"I love you, Roza." He said and with another quick peck, we moved away from each other.

I looked to Lissa, who was still in Christian's embrace, and crossed my arms. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. Someone has to keep you alive." She smiled and I appreciated the humor but I also knew that beneath it, she was serious.

She kissed Christian one last time before walking over to me and we turned on our heels and walked out the door.

Once we walked out into the darkness of the city and began making our way for the woods, I felt a feeling of unease wash over me. Lissa noticed this and turned to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked and I knew that she was worried that I'd changed my mind but I wish that was all that it was.

I shrugged and said "There's probably something that I should tell you before we get there."

"Rose." She said and I knew that I was worrying her and in truth, I was a little scared myself. I wasn't afraid to walk in and face Robert. I hadn't been afraid to kill Victor or anyone else. I hadn't been afraid to face Jesse in an alley without a gun on me. This was different.

I took a deep breath before looking down at my feet and asking "You know how we've been taught to trust our instincts no matter what? Even if it seems impossible, our instincts are rarely wrong."

"Of course I do. That's part of the code we live by Rose. It's what makes us so good at what we do. What does this have to do with right now?" Her voice was unsure and afraid so I decided to ease her worries.

I looked back up at her and gave her a determined look before saying "I haven't changed my mind, Lissa. There's nothing that would make me break this promise to you and to the rest of our organization."

She looked relieved and said "Thank goodness."

"I'm going to ask you not to change your mind though too. I don't want you to try and talk me out of this. I'm going to do this, regardless of what's going on because taking down Robert isn't just for us." I told her and I couldn't help but wish that I wouldn't have brought this up or that I could pass it off as something else.

"Rose." She asked and I waited patiently for her to finish. "What are you talking about?"

I looked straight ahead and put my hands in my pockets, the cold metal of the gun helping me focus on Robert. I stayed silent for a minute as we kept walking down the street.

"My instincts are telling me that I'm pregnant."

*****An update finally. I wanted to tell everyone thank you for the reviews on the last chapter and I'm so glad that everyone is still enjoying the story. Things are heating up now for sure. They are going to face Robert, there's a baby on the way, and there are sure to be surprises in the next chapter. R&amp;R and thank you for reading. **


	37. Chapter 37

_**~DIMITRI POV~**_

As I held my daughter and listened to the sound of rain falling, my mind and heart was fully focused on my Roza. I couldn't help but fear that I'd never see her again and had been dreading today for the past week and now that it was here, I wanted to have her safe in my arms but I knew that there was nothing I could do.

Janine stood watching me and I knew that it was because Rose had told her to keep an eye on me and make sure that I didn't leave to help. I would have felt better being there with her if she did need help but I knew trying to get away from a group of assassin's was impossible.

I kissed Vivienne's cheek before laying her down on the mats and walking to where Janine stood, her brown eyes ever watchful. I could hear the rain better from where she was standing and listened to the sound, hoping it would calm me a little bit.

It was a false hope because the more I listened to the rain, the more I thought of Rose. I wondered what was happening with her now. The sound of footsteps made Janine and I both stiffen but I ignored the feeling, remembering Christian was there with us.

"Christian is probably pacing and worrying about Lissa." I said, trying to calm her.

Janine looked my way, not near as certain. "Christian's footsteps aren't that light."

I listened closer and realized that I knew exactly whose footsteps they were. Janine handed me the spare gun that she kept on her belt before aiming it at the door. Vivienne's eyes fluttered open and she raced over to me upon the realization.

"Christian?" Janine called and I knew that she didn't believe it for a second.

The footsteps continued to get louder as the person neared the end of the hallway until they finally came in to view.

"Wrong Ozera." Tasha said and I realized that she had a gun pulled out and pointed at Janine.

I pulled Vivienne behind me and aimed the gun at her but didn't pull the trigger and even Janine seemed to be hesitant.

"What the hell do you want Tasha?" She growled and I looked to Janine, a confused expression on my features.

Tasha smiled before saying "I want what's mine. I went undercover for Dimitri and Vivienne years ago and I am not about to lose them."

"They aren't your and we don't go undercover. Robert wanted to be sure that they didn't leave the country so when he sent his assassin that was meant to kill them, they would be easy to find. We all thought you were dead." Janine growled

Tasha laughed and said "That was your first mistake."

She pulled the trigger and I watched as the bullet pierced Janine's shoulder. "You're second mistake was not pulling the trigger as soon as I walked in."

I took aim and was about to pull the trigger when she looked back at me with her icy blue eyes. "Don't do anything stupid, Dimitri."

I felt Vivienne move from behind me to go to Janine's side and in that second Tasha's gone was pointed at my daughter. I aimed my gun at her heart but knew that she would be able to pull the trigger before my own hit her.

"You've known about everything this whole time haven't you?" I growled and she smiled.

She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and said "Yes. I was an assassin for Robert and I was originally supposed to keep an eye on you but I fell in love. I decided to keep you and Vivienne safe. I was coming to tell Robert when I overheard Mia and that Hathaway whore talking about what really happened with Andre. I knew that they would come up with a plan to kill him, I just never thought that they would be stupid enough to try."

"Robert knows that their coming." I stated and she shook her head. The smallest sense of relief filled me that they still had the element of surprise but it wasn't going to over shadow the worry I felt as I saw her gun pointed at my daughter.

Vivienne tried to move out of line of sight but Tasha put tightened her finger on the trigger but didn't pull it. "You'd better tell your little girl not to move. I'd hate to have to kill her."

"Daddy." Vivienne said and I could hear the fear in her voice, something that pissed me off more than anything. I was kicking myself because Vivienne had never liked Tasha and I had ignored it. I was desperately wishing I hadn't now.

I didn't take my eyes off of Tasha as I said "It's okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay but you are going to have to stay still."

"Listen to your daddy, Vivienne." Tasha said and I could hear Vivienne sniffle and Janine moaned in pain.

I kept my eyes on Tasha as I asked "What do you want?"

"I want you, me, and Vivienne to be a family. Rose will be dead by tomorrow and I am the only person that can keep you safe after that." She lowered her gun and said "If you love your daughter at all, you'll choose me."

I looked to Vivienne and saw my own eyes staring back at me. I would do whatever it took to protect my little girl. She was all that mattered to me right now.

"I'll take my chances." I said and pulled the trigger on my gun. Tasha's dead body hit the ground as the bullet connected with her heart and I threw the gun down before pulling Vivienne to me.

She wrapped her arms around me and began sobbing. I kissed her forehead and held her close as I repeated the words "I love you."

She was mumbling in Russian and I saw Janine sit up and put her free hand to her shoulder. "Nice shot."

It was something I could hear Rose saying plainly and it made me smile a little despite the sickening feeling I had now. There was one less threat to us now but I still didn't know if Rose would come back to me.

Christian came rushing through the hallway not a moment later and walked past Tasha's body before kneeling next to Janine. I knew that he'd seen her but I didn't even want to think of what was going through his mind right now.

I looked toward Tasha's body and back to him before saying "I'm sorry."

He just gave me a smirk and said "You did what you had to do. Besides, you never liked her anyway."

He bandaged Janine's wound quickly and I picked Vivienne up and walked to another room, knowing that she needed to be as far away from the scent of blood as possible. I let my chin rest on her head gently as I felt guilt wash over me.

Vivienne seemed to feel the change in my body and pulled back to look at me. She smiled sweetly and said "You saved me, daddy."

She knew exactly what I needed to hear and I pulled her closer to me, thankful that I could still hold her.

"I'll always keep you safe."

*****Well… Tasha's gone. Was anyone surprised about her story being revealed? Was it good? That answers the question as to whose footsteps were heard while Mia and Rose were talking. It also answers why Rose and Vivienne did not like Tasha. Anyway, to the point: I loved the reviews for the last chapter and was so happy to see that everyone is still very into the story. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. They were all very unique and made my day so much better. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review. Have a lovely day!**


	38. Chapter 38

_**~ROSE POV~**_

"Rose, are you sure?" Lissa asked when we got closer to the place we'd once considered home. I put my hands in my pocket and felt the cold metal of my gun. This was one of the stupider things Lissa and I would do in our lives and I couldn't help but hope that we would have more stupid things to do.

I'd never really cared about living or dying or even those around me dying. Now, knowing that I carried someone else's life inside of me, I couldn't help but want to fight to do anything I could to make sure that this child would have the chance to live. I thought of everyone I had to lose and found the strength to walk forward to the prison. It was quiet and I knew that this definitely wasn't a good sign.

Lissa noticed the silence too and pulled her gun from her jacket, putting in plain sight. It was an assassin's way of saying that they were unafraid of whatever they were about to face. Lissa's entire reason for living was in this building while my own was outside of the walls in an old abandoned building.

We walked through the doors of the prison and the moment we walked through the doors, it closed behind us. We heard the bolts lock and we both knew that there was no turning back now. I felt my stomach do a backflip but ignored this response.

"Lissa!" We heard Rhea call all and we both turned in the direction of the voice. We faced Rhea, holding Eric as he bled from what looked like a bullet wound to the side. Nothing that would kill him, but enough that it would slow him down and cause pain.

Lissa gave me a pleading expression and I could tell that she didn't know what to do. She wanted Robert's blood on her hands but she wanted to go to her family as well. I knew what needed to be done but due to my pregnancy, I could feel the fear building inside of me. I pushed it beneath the surface and let my emotions disappear.

"Get as many people as you can out of here. I'm going after Robert myself." I told her and her eyes widened.

She was about to say something when Mia rushed over to us. "Robert doesn't have any guards. He says he's going to take care of you himself and doesn't want an audience watching. We have time to get everyone out of here but we have to do it fast."

Lissa looked at me with unshed tears before nodding her head and going towards her father while I made my way to where I knew Robert would be. It was time to end this and it was time for there to be a future in our friends and families lives. This was it, regardless if I lived or died.

I walked into the old room where me and my father had trained and later to where Robert and I would train. I walked in to see him standing against the wall with his gun pointed at the floor. He didn't look up when he saw me, he knew who it was. It was the only person who would risk everything to face him now.

"Of all the people I would think would have turned their back on me, you were the last person I would have expected." He said and there was a hint of hurt in his voice that was echoed by amusement.

I spoke plain and emotionless when I said "You tore this organization apart. We are supposed to go after people to make the world safer, not for a fucking paycheck."

"Rosemarie, you don't understand. I didn't do it for the paycheck. I did it for the thrill of the kill and, regardless of your father's death or your lover, or even his little girl, you did this for the same damn reason."

I took a deep breath and kept my eyes trained on his. "The only joy I've ever felt from a kill was when I killed your brother and the moment I put this bullet in your black heart."

He lunged at me then, knocking both of us to the ground. I felt his arms go around my neck and I could hear the anger in his voice as he said "You traitorous bitch. You can't even admit the truth in death."

I reached up and fought the urge to pry his hands from my neck, instead I dug my nails anywhere on his face that I could, feeling his blood run down my fingers. He moved his hands from my throat long enough for me to kick him in his stomach and roll him off of me. I reached for my gun and felt that it was gone but when I looked to see where it was, the bastard had grabbed my leg and knocked me onto the floor. I it my head and immediately felt fear race through me for my unborn child. On instinct, I'd covered my stomach with my hands and Robert noticed this.

"That explains the cold expression and why you wanted to save him so bad. You're pregnant with his bastard child." Robert laughed humorlessly.

I stood up from the ground and growled "What right do you have to call anyone a bastard?"

He lunged again and I moved out of the way in time but made the mistake of not seeing my gun. He grabbed it from where he'd lunged and I knew that this was it. I saw my father's gun in his hand and felt like if there was a way to pick how I died, gunshot would have been my first option. I backed up and watched as Robert pulled his own gun from his pocket, realizing he must have put it in there when he'd lunged at me.

"Don't worry, Rosemarie." He said and I gave him a cold expression. I smiled at the cuts I could now see that I'd left on his face. Blood poured down his cheek and neck, past his satisfied smile. "I'll be sure to bury you wit it."

I closed my eyes and heard the sound of a bullet flying from the barrel of a gun. What I didn't feel, was the pain of it making impact. I opened my eyes and saw Robert clutching his heart. I watched as he fell to the ground, drawing his last breath, and revealing Lissa.

"That was for my brother, you piece of shit. You can't take anything from anyone any more." She said and I watched as a few tears slid down her face.

I smiled and said "You saved my life again, Lis."

"That's the fourth time." She said and I laughed outright this time.

I walked over and waited till I was standing in front of her. "I guess I should say that you saved our lives. How's your dad?"

"Safe." She said and I smiled in relief. We both looked back at Robert's dead body and I couldn't quite grasp the fact that it was all over. This was it, we were finally free.

I looked away from Robert's body and said "Let's go home."

"Sounds perfect."

*****Robert is dead. It's almost over everyone. I hope it wasn't a disappointment but the story is not over yet. R&amp;R and let me know what you think. I also wanted to give a great big thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. I hope to update soon. Thank you for reading and stay with me. **


	39. Chapter 39

_**~DIMITRI POV~**_

We sat in silence in the room where Rose and I had made love before she left. I realized then that a lot had happened since then. It wasn't like those western novels where you kill the bad guy and move on. Killing Tasha had caused me to take a new viewpoint on everything. I'd kept my daughter safe and I'd saved Janine.

Christian had admitted that he'd heard what she'd said and that he was glad we were all safe but that didn't erase the pain off of his face. She was the last bit of family he had and now she was dead… and it was my fault.

A sound at the door caused me to turn my head and hold my daughter closer to me. I watched as Lissa walked through the door with what must have been her mother and father walk through the door. Christian walked over to them immediately and wrapped Lissa up in his arms. Her family seemed stunned but happy all the same. I could see that this would take some time to get used to but it would happen eventually.

Janine walked outside and I knew that Rose was more than likely just a few steps away but I made myself stay put so they could talk. Vivienne leaned in closer to me in her sleep and I leaned down to kiss her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me, a question in her eyes.

She yawned and asked "Is it over with?

I nodded my head and she stood up so she could kiss me on my cheek as I remained seated on the cold tile. Vivienne broke away from me and ran towards the door that Lissa had walked through. I watched as someone leaned down to hug her in the doorway and when I saw the gun, I immediately knew that it was Rose.

I got up from the ground and watched as she picked up Vivienne, immediately noticing her smiling expression. The hell of the organization was over and I could see that it had taken an enormous weight off of her shoulders. Her smile was bright and I could see that there wasn't a shadow of worry in his eyes any more, something I never thought would disappear. Rose handed her father's gun over to Janine and I saw them exchange a knowing smile, showing that there was hope for their relationships after all.

Rose turned her head to look at me and I could see that she now looked a little nervous. Something that was very out of character for her. "We have to talk about something. Later."

"Okay." I said and I wasn't going to deny that I was worried. I looked around the room and could see that we had all branched out in to our own little groups. Christian and Lissa were talking with her family, Adrian and Sydney were to themselves, and Janine seemed to be watching us.

I extended my arms and took Vivienne from Rose. "Daddy, can we go home?"

I kissed her forehead before looking to Rose, a question in her eyes. I turned back to Vivienne and said "Yes, we're going home. Do you want me to put you down so you can walk?"

"No." Vivienne said with a giggle and leaned in to the space between my collarbone and neck. Rose smiled and placed her hand in mine, lacing our fingers together before pulling me on our way out the door.

We were just about to make it out the door when Janine called. "Rose."

She turned around to face her mother, her brown eyes studying her mother closely. Her mother cleared her throat, causing Lissa and her family, along with Adrian, to look in her direction as well. Christian wrapped a protective arm around her but didn't look in Janine's direction. Instead, he looked in mine and I simply shrugged.

"The now disbanded organizations will need to have one last meeting, to burn the files of the murders that have been committed between the two groups and to have their own files burned in the organization. I expect you to be there." Janine said and Rose smirked.

She started walking out the door again, with me and Vivienne in tow, before calling "Wouldn't miss it for the world. Try not to piss anyone off before then."

**_~ROSE POV~_**

An hour later, we were home and putting Vivienne to bed. She was giggling and wide awake but was currently laying down in her bed. Dimitri looked at me with a questioning look in his eyes and I rolled my eyes. "Be patient, comrade."

I walked in to Vivienne's room with Dimitri behind me and she smiled at us. Dimitri walked over and sat on her bed before saying "Ready for bed, baby?"

She nodded before sitting up and hugging him around his neck. She kissed his cheek and said " I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, sweet girl." He said and stood up from the bed. I smiled and was so happy to see that I hadn't taken this away from them. I was so happy that I was here to witness the love between a daughter and her father first hand. I felt butterflies in my stomach and was reminded of the baby that I was carrying. I didn't care what the baby was, but I couldn't wait to hold the baby in my arms. I just hoped that Dimitri and Vivienne would feel the same way.

I walked over and kissed Vivienne on the forehead as Dimitri had done and said "I love you, baby girl."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I love you too, momma."

I felt my heart stop for a minute before I felt tears sting my eyes. I didn't bother to stop them from falling. Vivienne however stiffened. "They are happy tears, sweetie. I promise."

She pulled back just far enough to look at me. "You never cry though."

I kissed her cheek and stood back up. Dimitri immediately wrapped his arms around me. He leaned down and kissed my cheek before saying "Good night, Vivienne."

"Good night." She said before rolling over and pulling the covers up.

We made our way out of her room and gently closed the door before making our way to our bedroom. I smiled and pulled him in for a kiss. It was meant to be just a gentle peck but I was quick to discover that a peck wasn't going to be nearly enough. I tangled my hands in his hair and deepened the kiss. He picked me up from the floor and walked over until he gently laid me on our bed.

He pulled my leg up over his hip and I hadn't realized how much I'd missed him and his body until that moment. He broke the kiss to move to my neck and I felt his hands move to the bottom of my shirt before pulling it over my head. His hands moved to my bra and he began to remove it when I felt butterflies in my stomach again.

I kissed his again before pulling back to look at me. "We need to talk about something first."

Dimitri had a nervous expression on his face and I kissed him again. "Rose, I don't think I can handle any more bad news today."

I laughed and said "Don't worry, it's not bad news. At least, I don't think it is."

"Okay." He said and we sat back up in bed. "What is it?"

I took his hands in mine and looked deeply into his brown eyes and said "I'm pregnant."

He stayed completely still for a minute and I felt my heart begin to speed up. His expression wasn't happy or angry but calculating. I waited for him to say something until I finally got impatient. I squeezed his hands and his eyes moved to my stomach. He let go of my hands and gently placed them over my momentarily flat stomach.

"You're pregnant?" He asked and I nodded.

I took a deep breath and said "Yes, I wouldn't joke about this. Trust me."

He looked up at me again and smiled before leaning in and kissing me. He kissed my lips before kissing my cheek, my nose, my forehead, the corners of my mouth, and kissed me again. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him to me as I laid back down on the bed.

He laughed before tangling his hands in my hair and said "We'll tell Viv in the morning."

"Why? Do you have something else on your mind for right now?" I asked and I barely got to finish the sentence before kissing me again.

We spent the night making love until finally we were both exhausted. That night was different than any other night. It was the first of many nights where we didn't have to worry about tomorrow. Nights we didn't have to worry about keeping our relationship a secret and nights we could just be happy and love each other. The words "I love you" would never get old, so we would say them as often as possible for the rest of our lives.

Life was finally... normal.

*****Well, it's getting closer and closer to the end. I am so sorry about the long wait but I hope it was worth it. There are only a few more chapters of Rose and Dimitri's story to write. I want to say thank you for all of the wonderful reviews on the last chapter. R&amp;R and thank you for reading.**


	40. Chapter 40

_**~ROSE POV~**_

The next day was anything but normal. There were no guns firing, but there was plenty of confusion and even a little fear in everyone's heart. This was what we'd all been waiting for. A clean start and a new life. A chance to be something other than bloodthirsty killers but the realization came not long after it was a reality. None of us knew how to be anything different. We'd been born and raised in an organization of assassins and that wasn't something that was easy to forget.

As we all stood there, I could feel every persons eyes on me. I had told my mother, Lissa, Christian, and Lissa's family that we all had something to talk about between us after this was done and over. I still hadn't thought about how in the world I was going to tell Vivienne. I couldn't help but fear that she would be upset with the knowledge of a new baby on the way. It hadn't been long since she lost her mother and now was the first time that it was for sure that I was going to be able to stay with them. I didn't know if she would like sharing me or her daddy right off the bat with another baby.

Dimitri had laughed and told me that she would be more than a little excited because she was tired of being the youngest one in our group. I guess I could have assumed that she was lonely in the end. She was the only child in our group and school had been difficult on her as it is. I would be sure that she got to spend as much time being a big sister as possible when the time came.

Right now, however, my focus was on all of the people in front of me. I stepped forward and cleared my throat, drawing the attention of the few whose eyes were elsewhere. I kept my eyes on each of them and waited for the right words to come but they never did. I didn't know what to say to these people because I could hardly believe it for myself.

I took a deep breath, calming myself, before saying "We start our lives today. This is a fresh new start for each and every one of us. We no longer have to live in fear of someone penciling in our death on a calendar or for our names to come up on something that we are unsure of. Today is the day we can all walk out of here without a fear of every second we're alive. Today, we go out into the world and we truly begin living."

Cheers erupted as I finished my last line in the truth. Knowing the words and speaking them were entirely different things. You can think the words to yourself every moment of every day but saying them out loud made them a reality. I looked from person to person and could see their expressions mirrored my own feelings. Saying out loud that we were free had affected everyone as much as it had me.

The room began to clear out until finally it was just Me, Dimitri, Vivienne, Adrian, Sydney, Lissa, Christian, and Lissa's family. I watched from behind as Mason and Mia walked out of the room together and could see an all too familiar spark in their eyes. I smiled at the thought of the two of them together. Opposites did attract after all and they were complete opposites.

Dimitri threaded our fingers together and I was reminded of my own opposite. I looked up into his warm brown eyes and felt butterflies in my stomach that I wasn't sure had anything to do with our baby or not. I forced myself to look away from him so I could look at the rest of our group. I let my eyes narrow in on Vivienne before I walked over and hugged her. Her arms immediately wrapped around my neck and I felt relief wash over me at the exchange.

"How do you like the title big sister?" I whispered in her ear and I pulled back to look at her, almost afraid of what I would see. I'd faced countless killers and been in several horrible situations but telling Vivienne about the new baby scared me more than anything.

It was all in vain as it turns out. A brilliant smile lit across her face and she looked like a normal six year old. One that hadn't been through hell with the death of her mother or dealing with assassins after them. She grinned and even let out a little squeal, causing my mother and Lissa's family to turn in our direction. I couldn't bring myself to focus on anything but Vivienne though and I grabbed her hands to rest them on my still flat stomach.

"Rose." I heard my mother say and when I turned to look at her, I could see a smile on her face for the first time in a long time. Eric and Rhea smiled at the exchange and I could see Lissa was happy to have the news out. She'd been sharing my worry with Dimitri about how Vivienne would react.

"Well damn." Christian said and I turned to look at him with a questioning look in my eyes. "With you two for parents, Vivienne and little bit are never going to date."

Dimitri snorted and said "I've yet to see how that's a bad thing."

This caused the rest of us to break up laughing and Christian simply rolled his eyes. Vivienne kept her hands on my stomach but looked up and asked "What happens now?"

Dimitri walked over and picked her up in a hug before settling her on his hip like an even smaller child. My mother walked over and put a hand on my back, a smile on her face as she looked between our growing family. Eric had his arms around Rhea and were watching Christian and Lissa, who were in a similar position themselves.

"We go home." I told her and this seemed to bring a smile to everyone's face. We all separated after that and made our way home after the exciting day. It was definitely a day I would remember for a long time and I was glad to know that I was going to be able to raise our baby without the organization on our ass. News would reach to the other organizations and there would be others who would rebel against their own organizations.

I had no doubt that the news had reached Dimitri's father at this point that his son wasn't dead but we would deal with that when the time came. We wouldn't worry about what could happen but we would focus on what was happening in front of our eyes. Right now, that meant focusing on a healthy pregnancy and loving our family. We made our way home and after laying Vivienne down to sleep, we made our way to our bedroom. Everything was finally working out.

"Rose." Dimitri said and I looked up at him. He had an anxious expression on his face and I felt nervous. The last thing I wanted was bad news right now and his expression was nerve wrecking. He smiled at my worried expression and then said "I love you."

"I love you too, Dimitri. Now what's wrong?" I asked and he laughed lightly.

He walked over and grabbed my hands before lifting them to his lips. "Nothings wrong. I just have something to say but I don't know how you'll react and I don't know how to say it."

"Just say it because you are making me a little nervous." I said and he leaned forward and placed a kiss on my lips.

I kissed him back and let him take some of my worries with lips. I pulled back and waited for him to say something. He took a deep breath and stared into my eyes before taking a deep breath.

"I love you and I always will. I want nothing more than to be with you the rest of my life. I want this baby and Vivienne to grow up in a complete family without a doubt and I want you to know that I am serious about us. I want to be able to call you my wife and I never thought I would want that again. I don't have a ring yet but Rosemarie Belinda Hathaway, will you marry me?"

I felt tears begin to sting my eyes and threw my arms around his neck before saying "Yes. Yes, Dimitri. A thousand times yes. I love you!"

He hugged me back and kissed me again before laying me down on our bed. We made love all night that night and I felt happy just to be able to feel his body against mine. Our lives were almost perfect but that was more than I'd ever expected. As I kissed the man I would soon call my husband, all of our struggles were worth this. It was worth feeling his hands brushing across my stomach and the butterflies that came with his touch. Almost perfect.

*****I updated finally. It's coming closer to an end but I still have another chapter or two. I want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed me or this story. You guys are amazing and I wanted to say thank you for all of the support. I don't know what I'll be writing next but I will let you know if I decide. Thank you again everyone and I hope the wait was worth it. Have an amazing day!**


	41. Chapter 41

_**~DIMITRI POV~**_

_**EPILOGUE**_

I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as I looked at the scene in front of me. I saw Rose and Vivienne sitting on the couch looking over my two month old son. I could see the faintest light bounce off of Rose's engagement ring and wedding band. It had been six months since we'd said our vows but it had been much longer that we'd been following them. With the organization disbanded, our lives had taken a turn for the simple ways.

Lissa and Christian were living their lives with her family in Ireland and would be expecting two twins in three months. Eric and Rhea had been more than happy to hear the news and were spending as much times as they could getting ready for their grandchildren to be here. Lissa had told us recently what the names of her children would be. They had decided Belinda Vasilisa and James Christian Ozera would be fitting for the bundles of joy and I couldn't have agreed more. Despite the miles between us, we'd only grown closer to each other.

They'd stayed with us until Rose gave birth but left shortly after, wanting desperately to get out of America for a little while. Rose and Lissa called each other regularly as they always had while Christian and I talked as often as possible between both of our jobs. I'd been more than happy to return back to teaching at the university and Rose had taken over as a mother. She had been driving Vivienne to and from school, making up for lost time.

It wasn't easy to break the old habits of the organization but everyone who had been a part of it had adjusted fairly well to normal life. Rose told me many times that the only reason she'd been able to adjust was because Vivienne and I gave her a reason to want to be normal. She seemed to be enjoying it very much.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to kiss your wife and children?" Rose asked with her classic teasing grin and I smiled before walking over to her. I leaned down and kissed Vivienne's cheek as she yawned and kissed our sleeping boy on the forehead before putting my hands on either side of Rose's face.

I took my time to lean down and kiss her, refusing to rush a moment of our lives from here on out. It had taken too long to be able to call her mine to rush even the simplest of kiss. I let my lips linger above her's before receiving the sweet taste of her kiss. The feel of her lips on mine set my soul ablaze exactly like the first time we'd ever kissed.

I had to admit that being married had definitely not been on my list of things to do twice but I wouldn't take it back for nothing. The pain of losing Noleen would never be gone but it was now bearable. I couldn't help but think that she had a part in me meeting Rose and in a way, I was right. Vivienne being able to talk to a complete stranger in a bookstore had nothing to do with me but it was Noleen's trait of never meeting a stranger.

"I'm going to put Vivienne to bed and then I have something I want to talk to you about." I said to Rose as I leaned down to pick Vivienne up. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gently began nodding off to sleep.

Rose snorted and said "That's exactly what every newlywed wants to hear, Dimitri." I saw my eyes on my little boy open and Rose ran a hand through his dark brown hair that matched hers perfectly. "Ibrahim Nikhil Belikov, you can not be that light of a sleeper."

He just continued to look at her while she groaned. Vivienne laughed lightly as I walked to her room. I gently laid her on her bed and grabbed her hand. Her eyes didn't open but she smiled. I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight, baby. I love you" I told her softly.

She squeezed my hand before saying "I love you too, daddy."

I let her hand go before gently closing her door behind me. I saw Rose standing over Ibrahim's crib as she turned on the cd of Russian lullabies her mother had given us shortly after he was born. He woke up at the slightest noise but the music never failed to soothe him and I watched his eyelids close as he drifted off to sleep.

I grabbed Rose's hand before leading her out on the front porch of our home. After everything had settled down, Rose and I had purchased an actual house so that our children would have a yard to play in. It was deep enough in the woods of Montana that we weren't bothered by the noises of the city and we seemed to exist in our own corner of the world.

"You aren't ready for a divorce already, are you comrade?" She asked and I laughed before pulling her in for a kiss. It didn't last long but the passionate kiss always managed to take our breath away. "That's a good sign."

I pulled back just far enough to look into her warm brown eyes and took a lock of her beautiful hair to tuck behind her ears. "Roza, there is something I need to tell you."

She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a smirk before saying "Shoot."

I arched an eyebrow at her choice of word but let it go. She was who she was and her sense of sarcasm showed that she was nervous about what I had to say. She had no reason to be though.

"I never told you thank you."

The sarcasm disappeared as she gave me a confused look. "Thank me for what, comrade?"

"For risking your life to make sure that Vivienne had a good home. To make sure that I was able to finish raising her and that she would live. I'll never be able to pay you back for that but I'll spend the rest of my life trying to show you how grateful I am that you did that for her."

She gave me a light smirk before leaning forward and kissing me. "I didn't just do it for her. Everything I did, I did for a reason. I wouldn't change one second of the hell that we all went through."

"I know." I told her and she smiled a genuine smile.

"Nothing was for just one person. The murders, the lies, and the secrets all came back to everyone." She said and I could see the truth blazing in her eyes as she spoke the words.

I tightened my arms around her waist and leaned in closer to her before saying "So in the end it was…"

"All for us."

*****I can't believe it's over. I have enjoyed writing this story so much and it makes me a little sad to see it ending but it's time. I want to say thank you so much for everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed me and this story. I hope you have all enjoyed every word of it and thank you so much for your support. You're all wonderful. Thank you!**


	42. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**I wanted to take the time to thank each and every one of you for the amazing support you all gave as I wrote this story. I am so happy to say that it is finished and I am so glad that you all enjoyed it. Thank you for each and every review, favorite, and follow to me and the story. You guys are amazing! You all had such wonderful words of encouragement and it made the story that much more fun to write. **

**On a side note, I wanted to bring to light the fact that I'm now on Quotev. I am taking a momentary break from Fanfiction until I get everything in order for my next story. I wanted to take some time to write something of my own for the fun of it and see how it goes. If any of you are interested in reading my original story, the link will be on my profile.**

**Thank you again and see you soon!**


End file.
